Love Hina: A Manlier Side?
by Bug-chan
Summary: Keitaro and Shinobu's date! r/r plz!
1. Default Chapter

Love Hina: A Manlier Side?  
by Bug-chan  
  
A/N -- This is my first attempt at a Love Hina fic, so please bear with me. It's going to be slight AU, but I will still stick to the manga storyline.  
  
"Narusegawa!!!" Keitaro yelled as he burst into the outdoor hot springs holding a book and an estatic facial expression. For once, his eyes picked up the scantily clad, if not naked, female residents but his brain didn't register it. The aforementioned person turned to him in shock and disbelief.  
  
"Keitaro???" she asked, very surprised at his sudden appearance and change of behavior. For the whole day yesterday, he was acting like a zombie, totally tuning out the other residents and talking to them only occasionally. Because of this, her brain put her current state of dress in the back seat and focused all on Keitarou. The same could be said for the rest of the tenants, even Su and Sara.  
  
"Look at this problem! I didn't understand it until now, but I finally solved it!" the black-haired ronin pointed on his book, still with that giant smile plastered on his face. Naru looked at the problem, tried to analyze it and gave up.  
  
"Wow, that IS a real stumper!" the long-haired girl agreed, still trying to think of a solution. Finally, she called it quits, "You really solved it yourself?! That's really something!"  
  
Keitaro looked back at her, and if it was possible, with a bigger smile. "Yeah. I was thinking about it all last night and the answer just hit me today!"  
  
Naru, along with the other girls, then realized something. "Then you were preoccupied over this problem since yesterday?" she asked. Keitaro nodded vigorously.   
  
*CLICK*  
  
Naru and the rest of the girls felt a draft going against her entire body, and realized something. 'I'm...NAKED!!! And there's Keitaro here!!!!' Sara prepared her clay face, Motoko unsheathed her katana and Naru clenched her fist; all prepared to make their respective weapons make contact with Keitaro for walking into a shower. But what was said next caused a different form of contact: jaws on floor.  
  
"Well, now that this problem is taken care of, I'd better get back with some of the other problems. Enjoy your bath!" Keitaro happily said as he walked back into the inn and his room, not even realizing for one moment that they were all naked.  
  
BACK IN THE HOT SPRINGS  
  
The girls were in the state that Keitaro inadvertently left them in: slack-jawed and buggy-eyed, not to mention extremely shocked and confused all melded into one.  
  
"Did you...he...walk...pervert..." Naru tried to put together a coherent phrase, but only ended up sputtering random words. Her brain got kick-started by a small splash behind her, followed by a somewhat bigger one. She turned around to see Motoko's kataka floating, and the aforementioned person kneeling in the springs.  
  
"Urashima..." the tall, black-haired girl let out before falling face-first into the water.  
  
"Motoko!" Naru yelled out as she ran towards the now-unconcsious girl. As she started, she heard more splashes around and some mumbling. She turned to the sources to see three of the youngest residents, Shinobu, Suu and Sara float up to the surface, unconscious and unresponsive like Motoko. "Shinobu! Suu! Sara! Get up!" Naru panicked. She then turned to her other side to see if Kitsune was still at least responsive, only to see the short-haired woman fully knocked out, sprawled over one of the stones, due to either her drunkeness, the heat, or both. "Oh no!! Not you too Kitsune!!!" she panicked even more. Naru first ran over to Motoko and grabbed her arm as she tried to pull her to the surface but the longer she pulled it, the heaver it seemed. 'Oh no! I'm about to pass out!' The heat was slowly but surely getting to her as well. Finally, she got Motoko and pulled her upper body out of the water. This, however, was her knockout punch and once she tried to head out to get the others, she fainted. "Keitaro..." she whispered before darkness took over her.   
  
As she plunged into the water, Tama, the resident turtue, who was idly swimming in a quieter section of the hot springs, came about and saw six unmoving bodies. Thinking nothing of the worst, she (A/N -- I'll assume Tama's a female since she's always around with the girls in the hot springs) approached Naru's unconcious form.  
  
"Myu myu?" she asked. Silence was her response. "Myu myu?" she asked again. More silence. She then poked Naru with her right wing/leg, only to not get any response again. She then went off to Motoko, who was lying facing up with her upper body lying on the ground and her lower body still immersed. Tama got right in her face and started, "Myu myu myu?" The kendo girl did not even stir, let alone scream. "Myu myu myu?" the turtle asked again. Still nothing. Feeling a bit afraid, Tama went to Kitsune, Sara then Shinobu and did the same thing, to no avail. Finally, the turtle hesitantly approached Suu, the one who wanted to eat her for quite a while. Even under this situation and growing worry, Tama still couldn't shake off the fear she had for the exotic girl. "Myu?" she asked after some hesitation. Suu didn't bulge. "Myu myu?" she asked again, this time even poking Suu's head. Still nothing. At this point, Tama feared the worst and took off for Keitaro's room, screaming, "Mi mi mi mi!!!!"  
  
Keitaro was about to start on another tough math problem when a high-pitched sound interrupted him. Keitaro was more used to a female voice of different pitches screaming so it was easire to tune that out, but not exactly one coming from a turtle. He looked up from the low table he was using to see Tama flying frantically in, just as if she was being chased by some predator (A/N -- Vol 6, Chap 44, aquarium scene). She flew so fast that Keitaro instinctively raised his hands a few inches in front of his face to catch her before she could do harm to him or herself. "Tama, what's the matter? Calm down," he said gently as he patted her head. Tama slowly calmed down but was still nervous; Keitaro could feel her shaking. "What's wrong?" he asked, somewhat worried as he set the turtle down on the desk. After all, he's never seen Tama so scared, except for that one time at the aquarium.   
  
Tama started hovering and waving her wings/legs frantically, "Myu myu mi myu mi mi myu myu mi myu mi mi!!" (Rough translation -- The girls are in trouble!!)  
  
Keitaro looked with confusion. "Say what?"  
  
"Mi mi mi mi mi!!!" Tama "mi"ed frantically and pointed towards the hot springs. Keitaro still looked at her with a blank face. Tama then started flying towards the direction of the hot springs through the hallways of the inn.   
  
"Tama! Wait!" Keitaro yelled but Tama ignored him and sped out of his room. Keitaro started to give chase and followed her. Half a minute later, Keitaro found himself in front of the hot springs, hands on his knees and bent over trying to catch his breath. "Tama, what are you doing?" he asked, more confused than ever. In reply, Tama pointed into the hot springs while continuously "mi"ing. "Something's in the hot springs?" he asked, somewhat understanding the hot springs turtle.   
  
"Myu!"  
  
"All right, I'll check it out," Keitaro said as he entered the springs with Tama close behind. Out of all the things to see, Keitaro did not expect to see six unconcsious girls floating in the hot springs. "What the???" he yelled. He ran to the closest one, Motoko. "Motoko-chan! Are you OK?" he yelled as he shook her shoulder. No response. He waded into the water towards Naru. "Narusegawa! Wake up!" he yelled, without any success. "Kitsune!" he turned to see her on the rocks, unmoving. He then saw a patch of dark skin and, in contrast, a patch of rather light skin off in a corner. "Suu-chan, Sara-chan, Shinobu-chan! Get a hold of yourself!" His yelling did no good and he realized that these girls fainted from being in the hot springs for too long. 'Looks like I'm going to get them out of here! And I'm going to need all the help I can get,' he concluded. He turned around to face Tama. "Tama, go get Mutsumi-san!" he said to the turtle.   
  
"Myu myu!!" she replied and promptly took off to the somewhat sickly woman's house. Keitaro then grabbed the three youngest residents first, without much effort and brought them onto land. He then grabbed hold of Naru, dragged her through the water while keeping her head above it and placed her out of the water as well. He then put Kitsune on one of his shoulders while pulling Motoko fully out of the hot springs and gently laid Kitsune down next to the black-haired girl. As he did that, the door behind him opened and out came Mutsumi, this time with a worried face instead of her perpetual smile. Ironically, this time around, she was the healthy one instead of the rest of the tenants. "Ara, did something happen?" she asked. "Tama-chan was acting very nervously when she came to me."  
  
"Yes, all the girls fainted from the heat in the hot springs. Please go to the rooms and bring down and set up futons and blankets to the living room. And also, please bring six sets of robes," he requested. Mutsumi left to go to each of the rooms as Keitaro first picked up Sara and Suu, both being the smallest and lightest residents, under each arm and headed towards the living room. He saw two futons already set up with a robe on each one of them and Mutsumi setting up another one next to them. He dressed them, placed both girls on them and covered them with a blanket. He headed back and fetched Shinobu and Motoko, who was quite light herself given her height, and brought them back to the living room as well. By then all the futons were set up and the brown-haired anemic was looking at the kanririn, awaiting further instructions. "Please go get many bowls, fill them with cold water and dip some towels into them," he further instructed. Mutsumi nodded and headed off to the changing room to get the requested items. Keitaro tucked both girls in and went back, fetched Naru and Kitsune and tucked them in. By then, Mutsumi and Tama had covered the other girls' foreheads with cold towels in an attempt to cool them off and let them relax. Keitaro took two more towels, squeezed most of the water from it and gently placed it on Naru's and Kitsune's foreheads.   
  
"Ara, I feel so tired," Mutsumi said, the smile finally replacing the worry. Although she was happy, Keitaro wasn't and not wanting to deal with another unresponsive woman, suggested something.  
  
"Mutsumi-san, please go up to my room. You can stay there for tonight, I shall watch over them," he suggested, or more like ordered. Mutsumi happily agreed and sauntered up the stairs. The kanririn watched her movements, and when her feet was out of sight, kept his ears open for a *thud*. Instead, he heard a door open, and a door close, and he sighed in relief. 'At least that's one less person to worry over,' he mentally said to himself and smiled slightly. A minute later, he saw Tama fly down, back in her leisurly pace. "Did Mutsumi-san go to bed properly?" he asked, wanting to make sure.   
  
"Myu myu!" Tama said, and landed on Keitaro's head. He sighed in relief, and turned his attention back on the unconscious girls. He noticed no change in their behavior and, along with Tama, proceeded to cool their towels and place them on their foreheads again. 'Well, I should go and bring some books from upstairs,' he thought. "Tama, keep an eye on them while I go get my books," he told. After hearing a "Myu!" he went back, fetched some books, came down and started reading. Every now and then, he'd take a peek at the girls to see if anything changed and he'd change their towels every so often. Finally, he finished reading an entire history book and learning its details and decided to take a break. He placed the book down and looked at all the girls.  
  
'It's strange to see them like this, it makes me go into reminiscence about them,' he thought to himself as he eyed each girl's face. 'How long has it been since I've known them, a year? Or more?' He thought back to the first day he came to Hinata-sou, how almost everyone was so against him becoming their kanririn. Of course, all his memories were not unpleasant. He also remembered the three days of torture he went through when Motoko wasn't around trying to survive through Suu's "nightly activities". He chuckled at that particular one and noticed how calm Suu was right now.   
  
'Suu-chan, I still don't know what to make of you. Sometimes you can be so hyperactive, and yet, at other times, you can be so...quiet. Truly a mystery. I still wonder, what brings you here? Of course, it's not my business to ask, but I still can wonder, not? I still think I'll need more than just a year to fully understand you,' he thought to himself as he saw Suu. He brushed away a few strands of hair, which Suu reacted to by smiling and mumbling, "Oniisan..." Keitaro smiled, heartfelt. He changed her towel, then looked over to Sara.  
  
'Sara-chan, another foreigner in Hinata. Not only that, but the adopted daughter of Seta-san. It's quite an interesting mix. Sometimes you are just like Suu-chan, so hyperactive and full of activity, but yet, at times like these, you can be very quiet. You know, if you weren't so into breaking everything, I would love to have known you better, but then again, I don't think I would know you that well if that were the case. I guess destruction is what makes you up,' he concluded with a smile as he changed her towel. He paused for a minute to watch her steadily breathing, and moved to Shinobu.  
  
'Shinobu-chan...you were so quiet and so unsure of yourself when I first met you,' he started, then paused, trying to recollect as many memories he had with her, 'You were just like a turtle, only sticking out the head when the coast is clear and pulling it back in the moment there is even the slightest disturbance. You were brought down by a lack of friends and poor grades. But now,' he paused, again, 'you've lost your shell. You're more confident of yourself, and you've grown stronger as a person. In fact, stronger than a turtle's shell.' He paused yet again, 'I know...you have a crush on me, and that makes me feel good too. It makes me feel appreciated to some degree, even though a crush is something childish and immature. I truly hope you move on. You have made much progress, if you keep it up, you will truly succeed,' he finally finished as he changed her towel and pulled her hair back gently. As he did that, he saw her slowly let out, "Sempai..." He turned to Motoko.  
  
'Motoko-chan, as known as master swordswoman and inheritor of the Shimeiryu dojo. You always say that I am weak, and to tell you the truth, I have to agree with that. I am weak, I consider myself as weak, and that's why I respect you a great deal. Your determination and your swordsmanship amazes me to no end and that is something I cannot see myself in. Despite your weakness against turtles and your lack of a more femenist part, you strive to move on. Even with odds like these, Motoko, I'm sure you will become successful in all walks of life, whether it be swordsmanship or weather it be feminism. Keep it up, Motoko-chan,' he finished. He brushed a few strands of hair to the side and changed her towel as well. As he did that, he heard her mumble something, "Thank you..." as if she heard what he was saying. He just smiled like before and turned to Kitsune.  
  
'Kitsune-san...resident fox. Not to mention another mystery. I never fully understood you, you never really went out to work, you hung around in the inn drinking sake and betting on horse racing and you always pulled off pranks...hence your foxy nickname. But behind all your pranks and laziness, it seems like there is something else, like the Konno Mitsune behind the Kitsune. Even if your pranks were at the cost of someone, you never intended to harm or maim anyone, you had a gentleness inside of you. I still wonder, why don't you work? Why don't you study? And there are a whole list of Whys I'd love to ask but I don't want to because I have no right. But it's strange, I know, deep down inside, that despite your current attitude, you will be successful, like everyone else. It must be your gambling spirit inside, but I'm sure your success will be within reach eventually. Cheers,' he pretended to have a drink, and changed Kitsune's towel. Finally, he was at the last girl, Narusegawa Naru.  
  
'Narusegawa...Naru. On my list of tenants, you take the "most" for everything. Best national student, prettiest, most determined, etc. etc. You are like Motoko, in a way, because you have things I could only wish I have. I'll bet being the smartest student is probably one of the best feelings in the world. But more than anything else, my feelings I have for you are the strongest of all, promised girl or not. It never wavers, even if you send me to orbit every two hours,' he thought, then chuckled, 'It's a surprise, I somehow got used to it after a while. I guess it came with the feelings.' Keitaro paused for a minute as he changed Naru's towel, then continued, 'I started gaining feelings when you saw through my unintentional lie as a Tokyo U student, and it kept on growing as you continued teaching me for the past year, how despite my slow wits and my stupidity and perversion, which I still deny,' he stopped momentarily to chuckle, 'you still taught me and helped me. If it weren't for you, I would never have made it this far, and for this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I also realized that I had strong feelings tonight, when I finally solved that problem. Indeed, it is because of you I can do things like these. Now, is it love I have for you? Maybe. Maybe I love you, but I sure as hell like you a lot.' he stopped and changed Naru's towel again. Before he placed it, he bent down and kissed her forehead, to which she smiled and whispered, "Keitaro..." Keitaro was pleasantly surprised. 'Thank you, Narusegawa Naru.' He placed the towel on her head. 'Oh man...so tired,' he complained, last night's fatigue catching up to him. He headed over to the sofa and plopped down, feeling much more lighthearted and much happier, and promptly fell asleep.  
  
TBC?  
or The End?  
A/N -- This work is the result of a sleepless and boring night that took up roughly 2-3 hours of the night. It's my first fic so please don't flame me extensively. If you would like this to continue, or this to stop as is, please leave me a review. PLEASE, REVIEW!!! 


	2. Chap 2

Love Hina: A Manlier Side?  
by Bug-chan  
  
CHAPTER 2 -- THE NEXT MORNING  
  
"Urashima-kun?"  
  
"Myu?"  
  
Keitaro woke up groggily and tried to get his glasses that were sitting on the low table. He put them on and looked at the source of the voice, or rather, voices, and saw Mutsumi and Tama looking down at him. "Morning, Urashima-kun," she greeted him with that ever-perpetual smile. "Myu!" Tama greeted, lifting her wing/leg.  
  
Keitaro slowly got up into a sitting position. "Morning Mutsumi-san, Tama," he returned their greeting. "Did you sleep well?"  
  
"Yes. If you don't mind, I will be going back to my home," she said.   
  
"Please. Thank you for coming over last night," he said as he ushered the anemic out the inn. Once he saw her go without any fainting spells that plagued her, he headed back to the living room to check up on the ladies. He and Tama came and took all their now-lukewarm towels and felt their foreheads to see if they were still overheating and to their relief, everyone had cooled down. 'Yokkata...' the kanririn sighed in relief. He took all the towels, put them in the bowls and took them back. He then headed for the kitchen, hoping that Shinobu cooked extra last night and found some leftovers covered in wrap inside the fridge. He then microwaved them, took them out and put them along with numerous dishes, bowls and utensils, not to mention a bunch of bananas, and headed back for the living room. He went back again and boiled some (or in this case, a lot of) water for tea for everyone. A few minutes later, he brought the kettle to the living room and placed it next to the food along with the cups with tea. Then he picked up one of the books he brought along from last night and started reading and digesting its information, while taking a look at the girls every now and then to see for any changes in condition. 'In 1991, the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic broke up into 15 countries. They are Russia, Ukraine, Esto--' he read to himself until six different-pitched groans interrupted him. He looked up to see all the six girls get up very groggily and not knowing what was going on.   
  
"Ah, you've waken up," he pleasantly greeted them. "How are you feeling right now?"  
  
"Like crap," Kitsune answered. The rest of the girls grunted in agreement.  
  
"Yeah, I'd guess," Keitaro sympathized. "After all, you did faint due to staying in the hot springs for too long you know." The girls did not seem to hear it, and if they did, they didn't show any reaction...yet. "Well, it's good to see you awake and since you are now awake, I shall be going back to my room to study a bit more. Breakfast is sitting on the table right there, thankfully Shinobu cooked more than needed last night. Don't try to overexert yourselves since you are still not fully recovered." At this point, all the girls were less groggy and more responsive, except for Suu and Sara, who crashed back and Keitaro grabbed his books and started heading towards his room. Just as he was about to disappear upstairs, he stuck his head low and turned towards the girls. "And one last thing, your clothes are still in the changing room." He then continued towards his room.   
  
At that, the girls looked at the stairs in confusion with one thought in their heads, 'Our clothes are still in the changing room?' They then looked down at what they were wearing and saw a robe instead of a shirt or some other piece of clothing they always wore. Motoko went one step further and felt her chest to see if it was wrapped. It wasn't. She looked in her robe and lo and behold, no long white cloth that wrapped around it. Her confusion turned to rage at that point. "Urashima," she growled softly as she got up and headed towards the unsuspecting kanririn's room.  
  
"Motoko-chan, wait!" Naru tried to say but it came out rather softly due to her tired and feeble condition. Motoko didn't hear it and continued her way up towards Keitaro. She walked with large strides and came in front of a room that had a little signpost above the door that said "Kanririn". She burst the door open with a bang and saw Keitaro, back facing her and hunched on a book, apparently oblivious toward her presence. She interpreted that as being ignored, and it further angered her.  
  
"Why you lowlife, perverted, sick MALE!" she shouted as she ran towards him with a fist ready to connect. He then got up and turned around, thinking of getting out to get some fresh air and check up on the girls again. As he fully turned around, he saw Motoko run up to him, and suddenly fall forward.   
  
"Shimatta!" he cursed as he ran forward and grabbed hold of Motoko as she fell. As he stuck out his arms, she fell down and her armpits made contact with his outstretched arms which stopped her fall. His entire forearms, along with Motoko, was draped in long, smooth black hair. "Motoko! Are you all right?" he asked, worried. Motoko lifted up her head, feeling extremely tired again, looked at Keitaro's face and eyes and could only find sincerity and concern.  
  
"Urashima..." she whispered, sleep taking over her very quickly. "I was wrong...forgive me..." she trailed as her eyes closed and her chest started going up and down with a steady rhythm. Keitaro looked at her with confusion, not understanding what she meant, then gave it no thought as he hooked his left arm underneath her knees, slung her left arm around his neck, placed his right arm underneath her back and picked her up. He took her downstairs to where all the futons were, not really wanting to set another one up in Motoko's room.   
  
Meanwhile, the girls downstairs were waiting for any loud noises that were to emanate from upstairs, for once feeling sympathy for the kanririn. They were surprised to not here anything: no screams, no broken wood, no broken walls, no technique, no nothing. Their surprise only grew when they saw Keitaro come down with a sleeping Motoko on his arms; in fact, they were so stunned, Naru didn't jump to perverted conclusions, Kitsune didn't tease him and Shinobu didn't cry over his proximity to a different girl. They could only watch him as Tama, who was idling around with the girls, lifted the blanket to let Motoko in the futon and placed it back on her. Keitaro got up, smiled slightly and sighed as he shook his head. "Motoko, Motoko...stubborn as always," he said to himself. Then he turned to the others. "Remember, don't overdo yourself," he reminded them with a smile, and headed back to his room to continue studying, leaving the girls in some trance. They broke out of it when a door closed shut upstairs.   
  
"Was that...Keitaro?" Naru asked, quite uncertain and not believing her own eyes.  
  
"Yes, that definitely was Keitaro. He was..." Kitsune trailed, hesitation apparent.  
  
"He was what?" Naru asked her longtime friend, quite curious. She was then surpised to see her fidget a bit, which was most unusual of her, then blush.  
  
"Manly," the short-haired woman answered, blushing even more. "And it's very attractive," she said, this time quite softly.   
  
"Aaauuuuuuu!" Shinobu moaned. 'Kitsune now wants Sempai more than before!' she panicked. Before Naru could get Kitsune to elaborate, a growl emenated from the stomachs of the three awake girls.   
  
"Oh well, time to eat," Kitsune said as she and the other two approached the food sitting on the table and started eating it in silence. However, what was going on in each of the girl's heads was anything but silent.  
  
'Keitaro...what happened to you?' Naru thought as she munched on some rice. 'You've lost your perverted and clumsy self and it's so much better but...' she trailed off. 'But I miss your old self, like how you always stumble in to catch me in compromising situations...' her eyes then widened and she blushed heavily. 'WHAT WAS I THINKING?????' and gasped, not realizing that she still had some rice in her mouth. A grain of rice flew into her windpipe causing her to choke and cough violently.   
  
"Naru! Shinobu, get her something to drink!" Kitsune yelled. Shinobu nodded and poured some of the now-lukewarm water into a glass and handed it over to the coughing girl, who took it and downed it in a gulp. It did the job and she calmed down.  
  
"I'm all right, I choked on some rice," she said, now under control. Both girls sat down in relief and continued eating. Naru stopped her train of thoughts and focused solely on eating and making sure the food went down the correct tube until she was done.   
  
Shinobu's train of thoughts took off now. 'Sempai...ever since I've seen you, I've always admired you for being a Toudai student. Then I admired you for being very hardworking and not giving up. Now I admire you because you are more masculine than before.' The shy middle-school girl stopped eating and blushed like a stop sign as well as drop her jaw. 'Oh no! What am I thinking???' Naru and Kitsune saw the young resident in a very strange position: a spoon of food an inch away from her open mouth, her eyes wide and her face red.   
  
"Oi, Shinobu, you OK there?" Kitsune asked, waving her hand in front of Shinobu's eyes. No response. Then she just took her spoon of food and put it down, but accidentally dropped the spoon, creating a *clang*. This snapped the young girl and she looked around.   
  
"Huh?" she asked confused.  
  
"You all right? You're blushing," Naru said, with a hint of concern.   
  
'Oh no! I'm blushing!!!' Shinobu mentally panicked. She put her hands on her cheeks and felt the heat. "Oh no!" she yelled, then looked at the two other residents. Naru and Kitsune only looked back with concern and confusion, but Shinobu's head went into overdrive. "No! I'm sorry!" she yelled as she fled from the living room towards her own room, ignoring her lack of strength.   
  
"Shinobu-chan!" Naru yelled after the running blue-haired girl but to no avail. "Mou..." she sighed as she continued eating. The rest of the meal passed by without incident and the two ladies took the dishes and the leftover food to the kitchen. Just then Keitaro came by.   
  
"You two look much better!" Keitaro complimented the two women in the kitchen. He grabbed a drink from the fridge and walked outside to get some fresh air for about a few minutes, and headed back inside. He saw the two of them folding up the unoccupied futons and blankets and quickly went over to them.  
  
"Whoa whoa," he said, waving his hands. Naru and Kitsune looked at him somewhat bemused. "Let me take care of that, you ladies go outside and get some fresh air." They didn't let go of the futons. "Here, let go," Keitaro said as he gently released Naru's and Kitsune's grips on their futons, "and," he then got behind the girls and put one hand on each girl's back, "go outside and breathe the fresh air." he finished as he gently pushed them towards the entrance, and finally out the door. The girls were too confused to put up any form of resistance and just complied. Seconds later, they found themselves standing outside the inn.   
  
"What just happened?" Naru asked.  
  
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Kitsune answered. She thought for a moment, then said, "Let's head down to the cafe, and ask Haruka-san. After all, he is her nephew." Naru nodded and both headed for the cafe with a long mental list of questions to ask. A few minutes later, they reached the cafe, saw it to be quiet as usual and sat at a table, waiting for Haruka to come out.  
  
'Hmm, I thought I saw a couple people walk in,' Haruka thought as she saw two people walk in from the corner of the eye from the kitchen. 'Oh well, doesn't hurt to have customers,' she said as she prepared two cups and a kettle of tea and put them on a tray. She carried the tray outside and saw none other than Kitsune and Naru. "Naru? Kitsune?" she asked, surprised to see them down at the cafe.   
  
"Umm...Haruka-san, can we talk for a minute?" Naru asked. Haruka continued looking at her, as if asking the younger girl to elaborate. "It's about Keitaro."  
  
Haruka's interest piqued for a second, then she returned to her neutral face. "Is he being a pervert and you want him out?" she asked, slightly amused.  
  
"Actually, it's about his perversion," Kitsune started, then paused. "He's not perverted anymore."  
  
The short-haired woman's eyes went up. "Oh?" she asked, her voice betraying no surprise or other emotion.  
  
"Uh huh," Naru nodded. "And he's not clumsy anymore too."  
  
This time, the ever-perpetual cigarette in Haruka's mouth fell down, her mouth wide, her face betraying outright surprise. The two tenants saw her reaction, and would've laughed if they were under different circumstances, but just nodded solemnly in agreement, not suprised at seeing her reaction.   
  
"In fact, I suggest you come up with us to observe him for yourself. Seeing it will be more of a shock than just us telling you," Kitsune said, to which the older woman nodded, took off her apron and followed the two tenants to the inn. When they walked inside, they saw the living room empty and clean, not even the sleeping Sara, Suu or Motoko were visible. "Eh?"  
  
"What happened to the girls?" Naru asked.   
  
"Let's check Motoko's room first, then Suu's," Haruka suggested. The three ladies headed for the kendo girl's room and went inside. There, they found a seemingly undisturbed Motoko sleeping. When they saw this, the girls (Naru and Kitsune) didn't know whether to feel relief or confusion. This only grew when they walked into Suu's room to see Suu and Sara asleep, apparently undisturbed as well. They walked out and went towards the stairs, confused as heck. "I suggest we ask Keitaro about this."  
  
"Somebody called me?" Keitaro asked as he came out of his room.  
  
His sudden voice surprised all three ladies. "Speak of the devil," Naru whispered to herself, then asked him, "Did you move the girls to their rooms?"  
  
"Yup, they'd get disturbed too much if they were left in the living room anyways," the kanririn reasoned. "Oh, Haruka-san, didn't notice you were here just now," he said somewhat sheepishly.  
  
'Wait a minute, did he just call me Haruka-san? No obaasan?' Haruka thought to herself. Secretly, she had a fist ready to send the moment he mentioned "obaasan". 'Naru and Kitsune are right, something's different about him.'  
  
"Uhh, Haruka-san? Are you there?" Keitaro asked, a tad bit concerned, as he waved his hand up and down to get her attention. Haruka snapped back to reality, faced him and nodded, slightly embarrased at her temporary lapse. "Phew, we lost you for a second there," he sighed in relief. He then turned to Naru. "Narusegawa, you look just like new now," he said, noticing the lack of fatigue in her face. "Why don't you go study now? After all, we don't have much time till the exams take place again," he said, then turned around to head back.   
  
"Wait!" Naru yelled. Keitaro turned around to face the long-haired girl and waited patiently for her question. "Do you mind if I study with you?" she asked, blushing. 'I know I don't do this, but I have to see just how much he changed,' she mentally rationalized.   
  
Keitaro's face changed into a slightly happy one with a small grin in his face. "That'd be really nice! I'll bring my books up to your room shortly," he replied and went back into his room.  
  
Once Keitaro was out of earshot, Kitsune turned to Naru. "So now you definitely have the hots for him eh?" she asked with that sly grin of hers. Naru blanched, then blushed.  
  
"N-n-n-no! I don't!" she stammered out. "I just want to see if he really changed or not!"  
  
"Suuuuuuuuuuuuure," Kitsune said. Haruka just grinned in amusement.  
  
A few minutes later, both ronins were in Naru's room, sitting across each other on the low table. Both were studying, but rather different materials. Keitaro was studying intently his math, while Naru was studying the said male. 'It's like that night, when he zoned out,' she thought. 'There has to be a way to bring him back to his old self.' She sat there for a minute trying to think of a way to get him to be a pervert, then gave up. 'Might as well study, then think later.' Just like Keitaro, she started intently studying her book materials. For a couple hours, there was total silence as the two of them read and read and digested the information coming out of the books. Then an idea struck Naru. 'That's right! Let's see if he's going to kiss again!' She pretended to read her books, then just fell backwards. She started to snore, even though she was fully awake and aware. However, the snoring went on for about ten minutes and she did not detect any movement or whatever. "Keitaro..." she whispered, hoping that would catch his attention.  
  
It did. He snapped out of his books, thinking he heard his name being called. He looked around for a second and was about to go back when he heard it again, just as softly. "Keitaro..." He looked across the table to see Naru sleeping (or so he thought).   
  
"Maybe I was wrong at suggesting that she study. Guess these hot springs are quite dangerous," he said to himself, fully unaware that Naru was awake and listening to everything. "Oh well, at that rate she's gonna get a cold, with only a flimsy robe like that." He got up, walked over to where he put her futon and blanket, picked up a pillow and blanket and brought it over. He gently lifted her head and placed the pillow underneath it. He then spread the blanket on top of her.   
  
Meanwhile, it took Naru all her willpower not to burst out and send him flying as usual. She had to make sure that he was changed but she was running a risk. 'What if suddenly he makes a perverted move?' she thought to herself. That alone was almost enough to snap her eyes open, but what he said next stopped her dead in her tracks.   
  
"Gomen ne, Narusegawa. I suggested that you study just hours after you wake up from your fainting spell. At least you don't have a fever anymore," he said again as he felt her forehead. He then removed some random strands of hair covering her face, and went back to his side of the low table.  
  
'He...didn't try to kiss me like that time before,' Naru's head was by now no longer processing coherent thoughts. Instead, it was more like random words that clashed against each other trying to be thought out. She then shook her head hard and cleared her head of those thoughts. 'All right then, time for plan B.' Naru slowly got up into a sitting position and saw Keitaro working away again. "Umm...Keitaro?"  
  
He lifted his eyes. "Hai?"  
  
"Did I fall asleep?" she asked with some uncertainty for effect.  
  
"Hai, though not for long. Do you want me to leave? Because you still look a bit tired," he said with a tad bit of concern.  
  
"No, no, I'm quite fine," she waved him off. "Let's go back to studying, OK?"  
  
"Hai," he agreed and dove right back into the books.   
  
'This should really show whether he's a pervert just acing cool or not,' Naru thought as she slowly got up. "Oh Keitaro?" she called out with a tone of seduction as she undid the first two buttons of her shirt. I placed my fingers in the third button to start undoing it when he looked up, and he did look up. But only for a second before she had the chance to fully undo it. She stood there, dumbfounded, with her shirt a bit open, looking down at what seems to be an unreadable Keitaro. He read a few more pages, then closed his book and gathered all his study materials. Just as he got up with his books under one arm, he said, "Narusegawa?"  
  
"H-hai?" Naru asked, shaking out of her reverie.  
  
"You know what you did wrong?" he asked, again in an unreadable tone. He approached her.  
  
"I don't understand," Naru said, very confused and not knowing where Keitaro was going with this.   
  
Then, without another word, using his free arm, he grabbed Naru from behind her back, pulled her into him, and gave her a kiss smack on the lips. Naru, too shocked to do anything, just let herself be pulled into it and didn't react to the set of lips on hers. Keitaro held the kiss for about ten seconds, and finally let go of her, who staggered a bit before regaining her footing.  
"THAT is how you seduce someone," he said, then walked out the door.  
A/N -- I rushed through this one, so I understand if it doesn't sound nice. But anyways, R/R. 


	3. Chap 3

Love Hina: A Manlier Side?  
  
A/N -- Whoa...20 reviews with just two chapters! I never expected so many to come in just from two chapters!!! And not only that, most of them are positive! That does it, I'm continuing this one.   
  
Chapter 3: Keitaro makes his rounds  
  
Naru stood there, unconscious, with her hands feeling her lips. Even thought a good half-hour passed since Keitaro went back up to his room, she still could feel his lips, and moreover, she could still hear what he said, 'That's how you seduce someone.' She sat down again and tried to sort out what happened in her head, and for once, the usually bright and smart girl was stumped. Finally she walked over to her bookshelf, took out her diary, cleared some space for it on the table and started writing, hoping that writing it out might clear things up.  
  
Dear Diary,  
Sigh...I don't know where to begin. Guess I should start from what happened earlier in the day then. I found myself covered up on a futon in the living room. I was downright confused because the last thing I remember was being in the hot springs trying to drag out the other girls and fainting, that too naked. But along with Kitsune and Shinobu, I found myself in a robe. I immediately suspected Keitaro did something perverted again and took advantage of me, or the other girls along with me, but before I could go and knock him out, I realized that I was too weak and tired to even stand up, let alone walk up a set of stairs. Not only that, but Motoko had the same thoughts and decided to act on it, despite my warning about her weakened condition. She headed upstairs, and for once, I felt sorry for our manager and awaited any loud noises.   
But no! You wouldn't believe how surprised I was when there was absolutely NO noise whatsoever. About a minute after Motoko took off, Keitaro came down, carrying her, apparently knocked out by her sudden burst of strength. With the help of Tama-chan, he placed her in bed and warned me and Kitsune, who was also awake, not to overexert ourselves. Not only did he do that, he also looked at Motoko…almost like how a father looks at his child, not as a man that has perverted thoughts.   
  
Naru continued recounting the rest of the day but stopped short right before the point when Keitaro came in.   
  
Then I wanted to see whether he really changed or whether he was being a jerk and I invited him to study with me. I know, it was unusual of me to ask him to come because it is usually him who comes to me. Anyways, I went into a fake nap to see if he would try to take advantage of my lack of awareness to kiss me or worse, like last time, but no! More surprises! He placed a pillow under my head and covered me with a blanket, apparently assuming that I was really asleep. He even sounded genuinely sorry for having me study with him and within me, doubts bubbled. Maybe he did change, but I convinced myself he didn't. So I took one of the most potentially dangerous moves of my life – I tried to seduce him. I started stripping in front of him, but instead of seeing him fall backwards with a nosebleed and gawking, he only gave me a peek! Just one small peak and straight back to the books!!! I swear, I have never been this confused in my life. Then, he got up and picked up his books, but before leaving, he asked whether I knew what I did wrong. I only gave him a blank look, and he then kissed me. Oh my, I'll admit just to you that he was a good kisser, but what he said after probably convinced me more than anything else. He said, "That is how you seduce someone," and walked out.   
Diary, I don't know what it is, but my feelings for him have never been this strong. But I still don't know what to make out of it yet. I hope I can figure out something soon, before this drives me nuts more than the exams themselves. Ciao for now.  
  
She finished writing and closed the diary. Then she turned to the yellow Liddo-kun doll, intending to see if she could talk to Keitaro. She crawled over to the doll, lifted it and looked down to see if he was around.   
  
"Keitaro?" she started, but stopped shortly. The room was empty and clean and the only way she could tell was by the books he used earlier in the day: they were neatly stacked on one corner of his desk along with his pencils. "Not here," she mumbled to herself. "Maybe he went to take a bath?" She replaced Liddo-kun and walked out, heading towards the small section enclosed just for Keitaro. When she reached there, she knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Silence was the result. "Keitaro?" she called out. "Are you in there?" Still no answer. She then placed her ear against the door to see if she could pick up on any sound. Absolutely nothing. Finally, she had enough of waiting and slowly opened the door. When she heard no reaction, she snuck her head in to find…no one. The wooden bathtub had no trace of water whatsoever, nor did any part of the bathroom floor. 'Maybe he's cleaning the springs,' she thought as she headed over to the attached balcony and peeked out. Although she couldn't see anything, she did hear a soft scrubbing noise coming from there, and she headed for the hot springs. She got there, opened the door and started, "Keita—" before getting cut off.  
  
What Naru saw absolutely stunned and silenced her. It wasn't the fact that Keitaro was scrubbing away at the sides of the hot springs; he always did that and it was expected of him as a manager. It was the fact that he was scrubbing while being half-naked. She had seen him half-naked before at the beach, but never this closely and carefully, and she could see various curves and crevices spread evenly throughout his upper body. He didn't have muscles like those who competed in Mr. Universe competitions, but daily strenuous activities that consisted of scrubbing walls and cleaning floors, just to name a few, had given him quite a workout and a chiseled look. The thin layer of sweat that resulted from the constant scrubbing only accentuated his muscular look as it reflected the sunlight off of his body, giving it a glow of sorts. 'Oh my,' she mouthed as she blushed furiously. "So manly," she whispered to herself. Unknown to her, Kitsune picked just the moment to come in.  
  
"A-ha! I knew you had something for our manager!" Kitsune exclaimed, apparently having picked up Naru's slip. She broke out of her admiration for the said man and looked at Kitsune, surprised and embarrassed.   
"N-no! I only wanted to talk with him!" Naru tried in vain to explain, but she knew that her best friend nailed her. She was saved from more embarrassment by Kitsune by none other than the one that caused it.   
  
"Eh? Narusegawa? Kitsune-san?" Keitaro asked, noticing both women. Both suddenly turned to him. Kitsune noticed Keitaro and also had the same reaction as Naru. "Umm, are you two OK? You're blushing quite heavily," Keitaro asked, totally oblivious of the fact that he was causing them to blush. "Anyways, I just finished cleaning so if you want to use it, go on ahead! I'm going to grab something to eat," he finished as he put away the cleaning gear, wiped himself with a towel and headed for the kitchen still wiping himself. Two pairs of eyes trailed his figure until he disappeared.   
  
"Oh my…" Naru and Kitsune both mumbled, both having never blushed this heavily.   
  
Keitaro entered the kitchen to see Shinobu up and cooking dinner. "Oh, are you feeling better?" he asked. The young blue-haired girl turned to face him.  
  
"Yes, Sempai!" she said happily. Then she noticed what Keitaro was wearing, or what he wasn't wearing, and immediately blushed. "Umm…Sempai?" she asked timidly.  
  
"Hmm? Something wrong?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. Being one of the youngest residents, Keitaro had a special piece of kindness for her.   
  
"Why…why…why are you not wearing any clothes?" she asked, even more timidly, her gaze down and looking at his shorts instead of his naked upper half.   
  
"Oh!" Keitaro said, laughing, "That's because I'm almost out of clean T-shirts so I thought I'd save what few I have until the laundry's done. Anyways, I'm hungry and I don't think I can last until dinner, so do you have a snack I can munch on for a while?"   
  
Shinobu looked up at him, and registered his question after a few seconds. "Yes! Hang on a second," she answered. The young girl opened the refrigerator, picked out some noodles from a couple nights ago and put it in the microwave. Thirty seconds later, she took out the now-heated noodles and picked out a pair of chopsticks. "Here you go Sempai," she said as she approached him with the noodles. Then she tripped on her own sandals. "Ack!" she screamed.  
  
"Whoa!" Keitaro let out as he grabbed the noodles with one hand and used his body and the other hand to keep Shinobu from falling, pretty much hugging her. "You OK?"  
  
She was in her own little world. 'Sempai's body is so firm! Sempai's hugging me! Sempai's hugging me!' She was then shaken out of her little world by the said man shaking her gently. Her eyes snapped open, and she pushed herself off of him back onto her feet. "I'm sorry!" she said, looking down and feeling ashamed, both for falling onto him and having lewd (lewd to her) thoughts of him.  
  
Keitaro waved her off. "No worries, Shinobu-chan! Thanks for the noodles!" he thanked and walked out of the kitchen. He walked over to the couch in the living room and started eating, savoring the good taste. 'Nothing beats Shinobu's cooking, especially after a hard day's work,' he thought to himself happily. Just then, from the corner of his eye he noticed an incoming brown figure. He placed the noodles down on the table got up and stuck his hands out just above his waist.  
  
Suu had ran and tried to jump-kick Keitaro as per usual. But Keitaro looking ready to catch her caught her off-guard as she launched herself and she couldn't do anything to stop. She landed right into his arms as a result instead of slamming into Keitaro's head. He looked down at her with a gentle smile, which she returned with a confused expression.  
  
"Suu-chan, you shouldn't do that kind of thing, you can get hurt," the manager gently chided her. "And I don't want to see you get hurt like that."  
  
Suu, however, did not hear anything he said. She couldn't help but observe how even more similar Keitaro and her brother back home looked. It first started with his height and face shape, but she noticed how much stronger Keitaro had become and how similar it seemed with her brother. Then his gentle and soft voice finally tricked her into believing that Keitaro WAS her brother. "Oniisan…" she whispered, looking at him, her face slightly blushing, though it was quite hard to tell because of her naturally dark skin.  
  
"Hmm? Did you say something?" Keitaro bent closer to hear closer. Suu then got herself out of his arms and just stood there like a docile puppy, looking at him like he was her world (A/N – Vol. 10 Chapter 84). "Well, at least you're fine. Just don't play too roughly or you can get hurt again," Keitaro gently warned, Suu simply nodded and softly walked back towards her room while Keitaro went back to eating his noodles. 'She's awfully quiet, wonder what's in her mind?' Keitaro wondered as he ate. 'No matter, she should be herself when food comes around,' he finished with a smile. He got up, took the dishes back to Shinobu, who took it while keeping her gaze down, and headed upstairs to take a shower.   
  
Soon after, Motoko woke up. 'Where am I?' she asked, surprised to see her room instead of Keitaro's. 'Oh! Urashima!' she realized that she still owed him an apology for falsely accusing him of perversion. She made herself presentable, adjusted her hair and her clothes and walked out of her room, her eyes scanning for the only male resident of the inn. She first headed to Keitaro's room, where she found no one, then asked the residents around. She noticed that everyone fidgeted and looked extremely uncomfortable at the mere mention of his name. 'What happened to everyone?' she wondered. 'Oh well, I'll see him at dinner, I'll apologize then. I should meditate before dinner in order to at least make up for the missed time in practice,' she thought as she headed for the patio. The swordswoman walked up to the patio to see Keitaro meditating. 'Urashima?' she said mentally and noticed his short dark hair. The she stopped; she could feel something…pleasant and welcoming from him. She concentrated on him on the spiritual level and noticed a soft aura emanating from him. 'That…that is his aura?' she asked herself, quite surprised to see something so strong and pure from someone she deemed as a weakling and a pervert. 'He seems very manly today,' she mused, then panicked. What if Keitaro heard? Fortunately, the aura remained the same, meaning that he hadn't heard anything. Motoko then decided to meditate and sat down next to him. 'It seems different. It seems easier today to meditate. It seems like I feel at ease when he is around,' Motoko mused. Soon, if anyone were to come by and didn't know better, they would've assumed those two to be twin statues.   
  
Some time later, Shinobu announced that dinner was ready and everyone gathered around the table. Keitaro noticed one of the seats was empty. "Say, what happened to Sara?" he asked, curious.  
  
"Seta-san came by and picked her up while you were hard at work," Kitsune answered. She, along with Naru, immediately noticed the more literal meaning behind what she said, then covered their mouths and blushed furiously while suddenly becoming interested in their food.   
  
"Oh, that answers it," he replied, relieved that she didn't go missing. "Well, let's eat!" He started eating his food, but noted that the table tonight was unusually quiet. Even in the beginning, when Sara was not around, there was always a lot of talking; even Shinobu, the shyest of all the residents, would say something. But tonight's dinner was that of absolute silence, save the sounds of food being eaten. He clandestinely observed all the girls individually and noticed that none were willing to make eye contact whatsoever. Finally his curiosity got the better of him. "Why is everyone so quiet today? You girls all seem very nervous about something." He didn't know how close he was to the truth.  
  
"Umm…yeah, we actually are," Naru answered for everyone truthfully. At this point, all the girls' anxieties reached a new peak, for they were all hoping that he didn't ask for a reason.   
  
"Ah…" Keitaro trailed. 'I can imagine Narusegawa being nervous; after all, she does have a test so I know what that feels like. Or Shinobu as well, she's quite timid so that's understandable. But Kitsune, Motoko and Suu?' he pondered as he ate slowly. 'Ack, Kitsune's confusing to begin with so that's that of her. That brings me to Motoko and Suu. Motoko is usually cool and calm, but she seems to be displaying a lot of emotion today. And Suu is always enthusiastic when it comes to food, but she's eating hers very slowly. What ARE with these girls tonight?' he tried to rack his head for any logical reason but came up with none. Soon everyone was done with their meals, in part because of the lack of talking and they excused themselves, leaving Keitaro to his musing and guessing. A minute later, he finished his meal and looked up to see the table empty save for him and Motoko, who apparently was waiting for him. "Oh, Motoko, did you want to talk to me?" he asked. 'Maybe I can use this time to ask her what's in her mind.'  
"Yes. Umm," she hesitated before continuing, "Urashima, I apologize," she finished, looking down in shame.  
  
"For what?" Keitaro asked, surprised and confused. He couldn't recall any moment when Motoko did something wrong to him intentionally. "If it's about all those times of sending me flying using your sword techniques, I forgive you. I know you never meant any ill will and you were defending what you thought was right."  
  
"No, it's not that," she said. "You see, earlier today, when I saw myself wearing the robe from the springs, I thought you had…" she trailed. Keitaro looked at her in confusion. Motoko looked up, looking very pensive. "I thought you had taken advantage of me," she finished in a whisper and looked down again. 'That's it, now I'm lower than Urashima.'  
  
"That's perfectly all right, Motoko-chan," Keitaro replied. This caused Motoko's eyes to grow wide, but she didn't lift her head up. "I would've thought the same thing if I were in your shoes. And besides," he paused as he gently cupped Motoko's chin and pushed her chin to see her face, "I would never take advantage of any of you here. You all mean too much to me to do that," he finished with a soft smile. He then saw the tension break inside the girl and turn into relief as she let out a small smile of her own.  
  
"Thank you very much, Urashima Keitaro," she said.   
  
"Think nothing of it," the manager waved her off. He was about to take his dishes to the kitchen when Motoko stopped him again.  
  
"Urashima, can I ask a request of you?"  
  
Keitaro turned to face her. "Sure, what do you need?"  
  
"Today, when I meditated by you, I felt a great sense of ease and peace. Can we meditate together in the future?" she asked, somewhat self-conscious of herself.  
  
"I don't see why not. I am thinking about meditating every evening before dinner. How does that sound?"  
  
"It sounds most agreeable. Thank you again," Motoko agreed, smiling. She then turned around and headed back to her room.   
  
'Phew, that takes care of Motoko. Now to see what Suu's going nuts over,' Keitaro marked off her name in his head and took the dishes to the kitchen. He washed all the dishes, then dried them and put them back to where they belonged. About fifteen minutes later, he headed towards Suu's room and found himself outside her door.   
  
*Knock knock*  
  
"Suu-chan?" he called. He heard a lot of noise coming out of her room, and finally the door opened to show Suu, wearing her usual school uniform, but not her cheery attitude. Instead it was replaced by something more demure. "Suu-chan? Are you feeling OK? Was it something I said?" he asked, worried over her sudden change in attitude.   
  
"No," Suu answered softly while shaking her head.   
  
"Then?" Keitaro asked. Suu then grabbed his arm.  
  
"Can we talk inside?" she asked, her eyes pleading to agree. Keitaro nodded and Suu took him inside into her room…or rather, her forest. There were trees all over the place and Keitaro wondered how and where she slept at night. A few seconds later, Keitaro sat down in a chair next to the window while Suu sat on a sturdy branch.   
  
"So what is it that you wanted to talk about?" he asked, then noticed a red hue on a nearby branch. He looked outside the window to see the red moon, then turned seconds later to see Adult Suu sitting in front of him on the exact same branch.  
  
"Keitaro," Suu (this is Adult Suu until I say so) said, then stopped. Then she got on her feet, put her arms around Keitaro's neck and pulled him to his feet. "Kiss me," she simply said.  
  
The said man had another dose of confusion. "Why?" he asked. Suu's face saddened a bit.  
  
"Earlier today, when you caught me like that and bent close to me, I saw my brother in you. At that point, it was no longer simply 'Keitaro reminds me of my brother back home'. It was more like 'Keitaro IS my brother back home'. You see, you are no longer a reminder to me. Instead, you ARE my brother, at least when I'm here. That's how much I miss my home," she finished, while wiping a tear from her left eye.   
  
Keitaro's face went gradually from confusion to sympathy as he listened to the foreign girl spill. He looked at her, not changing the position whatsoever. "But what good would my kissing do? I may be your older brother here, but I can never replace him," he pointed out softly.  
  
"That's why I want you to kiss me. So I know that you aren't him," Suu argued back softly. Her eyes gave that pleading look again and Keitaro realized that she would break down if he denied her the kiss. Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her back, brought his head closer to hers and gently covered the girl's delicate lips with his own. Suu, initially surprised at his wordless movement, didn't do anything but lightly kissed back. Both locked lips for a while, and finally broke apart, much to Suu's disappointment.   
  
"Did that help you?" Keitaro asked, looking at her face.  
  
"Yes," Suu whispered. Her eyes were closing slowly and her breathing was becoming slower and more even. "Thank you….Keitaro," she whispered. Keitaro picked her up and noticing a pillow on one of the thicker branches, guessed that this was Suu's bed. He placed her on the branch stomach down and covered her with a blanket. As he did that, he saw the red glow in the room darken and noticed that Suu was back to her younger self.   
  
TBC  
  
A/N – OK, due to popular demand, I shall be continuing this fanfic, along with whatever else I'm working (LH – Diaries and NGE/Macross crossover). Thanks for the reviews and please keep them coming!!! 


	4. Chap 4

Love Hina: A Manlier Side? Chapter 4  
  
A/N - You guys are really good with the reviews!!! I appreciate it a LOT! I mean, I don't think it's easily possible to get almost 30 reviews just out of the first three chapters. Well, here's chapter 4 of God knows how many I'm planning for this.  
  
'Hope that takes care of Suu. Now off to studying,' the manager thought, as he headed back to his room. 'Study study,' He got back and took out a couple books, and started absorbing information. A while later, the door opened and closed and someone walked in, oblivious to Keitaro.  
  
"Keitaro?" she asked. He turned around and saw a tall, well-endowed and short-haired woman. 'Kitsune,' he summed up, then noticed her wobbly legs. 'Make that Drunk Kitsune.' Meanwhile, above him, Naru sat in front of her desk, studying, and heard the door open. She silently moved Liddo-kun to a side and peeked underneath to see a drunk Kitsune and Keitaro.  
  
"Hi. What's up?" he asked. Kitsune got down to her knees, then to all fours, and crawled towards Keitaro.  
  
"Keitarooooooooo," she whispered huskily as she approached the said man, slowly unbuttoning her shirt.  
  
'Geez, not again,' the younger girl mentally complained. She closed her eyes and sighed for a second, and opened it, only in shock to see the compromising position Keitaro had been put under, literally. She was about to jump down when she noticed two things: 1. Keitaro wasn't gawking. 2. Keitaro wasn't bleeding through his nose. As Kitsune slowly positioned herself above him to make their eyes level, Keitaro made a sudden move. He grabbed her back with one arm, used his other arm to get up and got onto his legs. To say that the two ladies were surprised would be an understatement, although Kitsune's was somewhat covered by her drunkenness.  
  
"Ooooh, Keitaro, so manly," Kitsune cooed. Their faces were so close that they could feel each other's breaths.  
  
"Kitsune-san, you're drunk again. Let me help you to your room," he said, without much emotion, ignoring her comment. While having a hold of one of her arms, he turned around, bent his back and picked her up. He then walked out, carrying her on his back, towards her room.  
  
Naru sat there, dumbstruck over the turn of the events. What was meant to be a mock seduction and a beating turned into.nothing. Keitaro just picked her up and took her to her room. 'What happened to him? Ever since that day when he walked into the hot springs, he seemed to have grown up many years. But how? Why?' she asked herself, but got silence in reply. At that moment, Keitaro entered his room and noticed the open hole. He climbed up, and right before sticking his head in, he called out, "Narusegawa," She snapped out of her mental questioning, and looked down the hole to see Keitaro looking up. "Did you want to talk to me? Your hole is open," he said.  
  
"Umm.err." Naru stuttered. 'Naru! Say something already!' her brain screamed. Keitaro patiently looked up. "Umm.yeah, can we study together again?"  
  
Keitaro smiled. "Sure! Your room or mine?"  
  
"I'll come down there. Hang on," she said. She headed back to her table, scooped a couple books, and headed for the hole again. She bent over and handed Keitaro her books, then after seeing him put them on the table, started going down. However, she somehow lost her balance and fell head- first. "Eek!" she screamed.  
  
"Crap!" Keitaro shouted, as he stuck his arms out. He caught Naru with one arm behind her chest, another arm behind her legs, and in one smooth motion moved his arms, and her, in a tight arc, resulting in an unscathed, but shaken Naru looking up at him. "Are you all right? I think I should look into getting a pole of sorts so you can safely get down from there." Naru looked at him like she didn't understand what he was saying, wide-eyed, wide-mouthed and very confused. Seconds later, his question made its way to her brain.  
  
"Y.yeah, I'm fine. Thank you," she whispered. 'Such firm arms.' Keitaro set her down on the floor in front of his table, and then walked over to the other side. He sat down, opened a book and started reading away, while scribbling something in a notebook. 'He's really serious, like a couple nights ago,' Naru mused, then started studying herself. Hours passed by as both ronins read, wrote and scribbled.  
  
SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE INN.  
  
"Where's Keitaro?" Suu asked Kitsune, who was vainly trying to pry open the vice-like grip the exotic girl had around her.  
  
"Check his room," Kitsune managed to let out amid gasps and grunts. Thankfully, Suu let go immediately and ran towards the kanririn's room. "That girl." she sighed to herself and headed for her own room.  
  
Suu ran towards Keitaro's room, passing by a confused Motoko. 'What's with her today?' Motoko mused as she picked up her ever-present sword and calmly followed after her. After a second, she deduced that Suu was heading towards Keitaro's room. 'That cannot be good. But.' she trailed, 'Urashima has changed. Even so, I'm still going to watch her.' As Motoko made a turn, she saw Suu run and jump into the room and expected to hear some sort of loud noise and waited. Hearing nothing, her curiosity peeked and she was about to head for the room herself when Suu walked out, deep in though. 'That is most unlike her,' Motoko thought to herself, and approached the younger girl. "Suu,"  
  
Suu looked up from her thoughtful state. "Oh, Motoko! Keitaro's strange, just like last time!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Let me look," Motoko said. Suu got right behind her as Motoko approached the room and looked in. Suu peeked behind her, and it seemed as if Suu was scared of Keitaro. "Hmm.something seems different about Urashima all right. His presence is very peaceful." She entered, with a trepid Suu behind her, and cleared her throat. "Ahem."  
  
Naru looked up from her books. "Oh, Motoko-chan, do you need anything?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, can I talk to Urashima for a minute in private?" Motoko asked.  
  
"I don't see why not. I'll be back in a few minutes," Naru said as she headed back upstairs. Keitaro did not notice her leaving, or Motoko's presence, and continued scribbling and reading. "Urashima," she called out.  
  
".The X goes into equation 4.1, then place the value into equation 2.2." he mumbled and continued his calculations. Motoko, dumbstruck, couldn't think of another way to get his attention. "Suu, stay here and keep an eye on him. If he stops studying, come up to Naru-sempai's room and let me know," Motoko told her and headed upstairs to talk to Naru.  
  
"Knock knock"  
  
"Come in!" yelled Naru from insider her room. Motoko entered. "Oh, are you done talking?"  
  
"Well, it concerns Urashima." Motoko started. Naru then motioned her to sit down, which the kendo girl did, then fidgeted, "I do not know how to get his attention. He is so immersed that even Suu's entrance didn't distract him."  
  
"Hmm," Naru wondered. "I have an idea." Motoko looked at her, giving the older girl all her attention. "You said that the Zanmaken will not harm a person, but an evil spirit inside right?"  
  
"Yes. The Zanmaken Ni-no-tachi."  
  
"Then how about you pull that move off on him?"  
  
Motoko hesitated for a moment, then finally agreed. Both women walked back downstairs to Keitaro's room and saw Suu watching him. She saw Motoko, and just shook her head. "Suu, get out of the way," she ordered. "I'm sorry, Urashima," she apologized in advance. Then, closing her eyes, she gathered her ki and focused it to her now unsheathed sword. "Hiken," she mumbled, then lifted her sword above her head. "Zanmaken! Ni-no-tachi!" she shouted, and sent the ki towards the unsuspecting manager. The burst of ki flew towards Keitaro, causing loose paper to fly around and pages of open books to flap violently. Seconds later, it went through Keitaro's body. All three girls looked, anxious for any difference. For a while, it seemed like nothing happened. Then suddenly.  
  
Keitaro lifted his head and looked to see no one in front of him. Then he looked around to see the three girls at the door. "Can I help you?" he asked as he got up. The second he got up, his eyes rolled up and he fell down, unconscious.  
  
"Keitaro!"  
  
"Urashima!" All three girls ran towards the now-unconscious manager. Naru got to him first and placed his head on her lap. She placed her hand on his forehead and picked up a burning fever.  
  
"Oh my God! Keitaro has a fever!!!" Naru exclaimed, making Motoko and Suu very shocked. "You two, try to take care of him. I'm going to call up an ambulance!" As Motoko took over Naru's position, and Suu ran out to get a towel and a bowl of cold water, Naru rushed downstairs to the phone in the lobby and dialed the emergency number. Minutes later, the usually quiet night was filled with the sounds of a siren and a rushing car, followed by fast footsteps, as paramedics ran up to the inn. Naru, very distraught, managed to calm down for a minute to lead the paramedics to Keitaro's room, where they promptly put him in a stretcher and took off, with Naru in hot pursuit. "I'm following him to the hospital, I'll call you guys up when I know where he is!" she yelled towards Motoko and Suu as she ran out the inn with the ambulance crew.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, all the tenants, along with Haruka, found themselves outside the ER. Shinobu was on the verge of bursting into tears, Haruka and Motoko, along with Suu hooked onto her, looked at the doors of the ER impassively, Naru was crying into Kitsune's chest and Kitsune hugged Naru, trying to comfort her amidst her own hangover. Finally, after what seemed like hours to the distraught women, the doors opened and a doctor with a name tag saying "Ukazuchi" and a stoic face came out. All the girls except Haruka ran up to him, and stormed him with questions, most of them consisting of the words "Keitaro" and "die".  
  
The doctor raised his hands up to silence them. "First off," he started, "Urashima, is that his name?" The girls nodded. "He is not going to die. It is simply a case of extreme exhaustion." A chorus of "Yokkata!" filled the air as Shinobu burst into tears, saying "Sempai's all right, Sempai's all right!" repetitively, Motoko took Shinobu into her arms while letting out a small sigh of relief of her own, Suu became her hyperactive self again, Haruka broke a small smile and Naru calmed down. "We would like to keep him here for a night to observe him for any sudden changes. By the way, has he been doing anything physically stressing?" the doctor asked as he took out a clipboard and a pen.  
  
"Well, for starters, he's the kanririn of a girls' dormitory. He's also a student who spends a great deal of time every night studying for the upcoming university entrance exams," Haruka said. The doctor nodded slightly as he jotted down notes in his clipboard.  
  
"And I take it he does a great deal of physical work?" he asked.  
  
"Every morning he wakes up early to clean out a hot spring, and wipe all the floors in the building, to name a few."  
  
"Ah. That explains his muscular form," he said, then noticed two of the tenants blushing furiously and chuckled, before continuing, "and, unfortunately, his exhaustion. Lack of sleep and too much physical work, no matter how strong the body is, can and will cause things like this." The group nodded collectively.  
  
"Can we visit him now?" Naru asked.  
  
"Yes, but please keep your voices down. Urashima-san needs all the rest he can get. I shall see you in the morning. Good night," the doctor said as he left them.  
  
"I'm going to stay here tonight with Keitaro. Who else wants to stay?" Haruka asked. She wasn't too surprised when five hands went up in the air almost immediately. "Remember, keep quiet," she reminded as the group made its way into Keitaro's room. Despite the doctor's positive outlook, Naru couldn't help but get a grisly image of seeing Keitaro hooked up to multiple tubes of liquids of various colors and various machinery, and somewhat hid behind Kitsune as they walked in. Kitsune sensed her apprehension, took the younger girl's hand to hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It's going to be all right," she whispered with conviction. Naru, now with a boost of confidence, nodded and followed in, and much to her relief, Keitaro was lying down on the bed, tucked in, without any sorts of wires or tubes stuck in him. All the girls looked at the sleeping form of their manager and felt at ease. A second later, a nurse came in, carrying some chairs.  
  
"Dr. Ukazuchi asked me to bring these chairs in, seeing all of you here," she said as she set them down. Naru thanked her and the nurse left them. Everyone sat down and just watched him in silence. 'He looks so peaceful, so innocent like that,' Naru thought. She would have had the shock of her life if she knew everyone had the same thought.  
  
Motoko got down to her knees, placed her sword perpendicular to her and closed her eyes in meditation. 'Urashima.now is the time I pay back the debt I owe you for watching over me when I was at my weakest,' she thought to herself.  
  
The rest of the girls sat there with Haruka watching him. Shinobu and Suu tried their best to stay awake but soon fell asleep; Naru took Shinobu's head and placed it on her lap while Kitsune took Suu and did likewise. The remaining women occasionally shared a glance, but other than that, dutifully watched over Keitaro. Despite the fact that they were in a hospital, that too with someone they know well in a bed, the mood wasn't heavily depressing and along with the glance, they shared a small smile. This kept up for the next five or six hours, when the sun rose again and they heard activity from outside the room. Dr. Ukazuchi then came in to check up on Keitaro. He wasn't surprised to find everyone in the room and smiled slightly, touched by their affection towards Keitaro. "Good morning. I believe there have been no changes over last night?" There was a collective shaking of heads. "OK. If you don't mind, can you please wait outside? I would like to check up on him once more." The group left and waited outside the room. A few minutes later, the doctor came out, and this time, he wasn't run over. Instead, Haruka calmly asked, "What's his current condition?"  
  
"There is no longer a fever or anything else of that nature," he answered. Many sighs of relief followed after that. "He can be discharged when he wakes up on his own. Now is there a family relative among this group?" Haruka walked forward. "Please follow me. I would like you to sign his discharge papers." She nodded and followed the doctor.  
  
Kitsune, now carrying Suu on her back, walked to Naru, who still had a hold of Shinobu. "See? I did say everything was going to be all right," she said, with an "I-told-you-so" voice for comic effect. Naru looked up and smiled at her longtime friend, then looked at the door. Then she heard a grunt from the room, and realized Keitaro woke up. She walked in, trailed by Motoko and Kitsune, and saw Keitaro wake up and stretch.  
  
"Oh man! That felt so nice!" he said to himself and sighed in pleasure. His smile disappeared to form confusion as he looked at what he was wearing (a hospital gown), his surroundings (a high bed along with white blankets, white walls and a septic scent) and finally, the people to his left. He turned around to see who they were, but without his glasses, all he could make out were a bunch of blurry figures. "Umm.whoever is over there, can you get my glasses for me please?" he asked. Naru looked at a drawer next to the bed, grabbed his glasses, took his hand and placed them on it. "Thanks." he trailed, then put on his glasses to see Naru looking back at him, "Narusegawa." He smiled briefly and looked around. "Wait. Why am I in a hospital?"  
  
Naru, Kitsune and Motoko smiled and sat down in the chairs again. "You fainted last night and you had a burning fever," Motoko explained. "Naru-sempai thought it was serious and she called the ambulance." Naru just looked down and blushed.  
  
"Oh that's what happened? Well, thank you, Narusegawa, and thank you too Motoko-chan and Kitsune-san for staying with me," he said, smiling widely. All three girls were now blushing quite a bit. Their discomfort was mercifully brought to an end when Haruka came in.  
  
"Oh, Keitaro, you're awake. How are you feeling?" she asked.  
  
"Much better, thanks," he answered.  
  
Haruka then looked at the girls. "Can you leave Keitaro and me alone for a while? Family talk." The girls nodded and left. When the door closed, she turned to Keitaro, this time with a serious expression instead of her usual expressionlessness.  
  
Outside, Naru and Kitsune were extremely curious as to what Haruka and Keitaro were going to discuss about. They placed the still-sleeping Shinobu and Suu under Motoko's care and despite the well-disciplined girl's words about respecting privacy, walked up to the door and stuck their ears on it. The said girl, despite her strong discipline, had a lapse and snuck up behind them and placed an ear on the door as well. Naru and Kitsune gave her a look that said "What was that about respecting people's privacy?" to which Motoko just gave a sheepish smile.  
  
"What's the matter?" Keitaro asked, somewhat confused. Haruka sighed and thought for a moment before starting.  
  
"You see, you fainted because of extreme exhaustion. You didn't rest enough for what work you put through. And you have to admit, you do a lot of work, whether it's physical or mental," Haruka started.  
  
"O.kay?" Keitaro said, not understanding where his aunt was taking him.  
  
"The doctor asked what kind of work you did and I only told him the tip of the iceberg. Even with what I said, I realized that just that was already a lot alone. I didn't mention the beating you got every day on a daily basis and that only adds to the amount of work your body handles," Haruka said, her face still serious. Outside, Naru's and Motoko's faces fell slightly when they remembered the countless times they sent him flying for various reasons, then became serious again.  
  
"So?" her nephew asked, even more confused now.  
  
"You don't quite get it do you? Naru and Motoko have probably given you enough beatings to last you ten reincarnations, Kitsune has taken enough money from you to buy sake that it's a miracle she hasn't had to go to the hospital because of liver damage. Suu has always targeted you so much with her creations that it's a marvel you're still in one piece. Probably the only one who hasn't harmed you is Shinobu. What you have gone through is more than what a regular man can take before he goes insane," Haruka explained. Outside, three faces all fell, realizing how they've always beaten and made use of Keitaro and never considered his feelings. They were even softly crying but one word snapped them back to attention. "Why?" the usually emotionless woman asked.  
  
There was silence for about a minute as Keitaro digested everything his aunt told him and contemplated, but that minute seemed like an eternity to the girls outside. While the two people inside the room were perfectly calm, the girls outside was a different story; they were on the verge of breaking down the door and begging for forgiveness. Suddenly, Keitaro's voice was heard and the girls froze, expecting the worst.  
  
"Because," he started, and paused, as in thinking.  
  
"Because?" Haruka asked, beckoning him to continue.  
  
"Because?" the girls outside whispered.  
  
"Because, Aunt Haruka, I care for them," Keitaro said, with an uncharacteristically firm voice, despite its softness. Haruka's eyes went up slightly in surprise and the girls all snapped back in shock. 'Even after all we put through him, he still cares for us?' ran though the girls' heads. "Every time I see each of them, I can see my own self reflected on each of their faces. I came to Hinata Inn because I wanted to avoid the problems back home. I am a third-year ronin and my parents wanted me out, so I came here. However, instead of avoiding my problems, I ended up bringing them with me here. In each girl I see, despite their cheerfulness or seriousness, there's always a problem behind them," he paused.  
  
"How did he." the girls outside whispered before getting cut off by Keitaro continuing.  
  
"I can't say what each girl's problem is because I have no right to pry into their personal lives, and that doesn't change whether I'm the kanririn or even Granny Hina for that matter. But I do know that they are only happy on the surface, like how I am whenever I am around. You see, I don't pity them or sympathize with them. I KNOW what it feels like and despite my problems, I want to help them." At this point, Haruka's face softened to a small smile and outside, the three girls had formed a continuous stream of tears. 'Keitaro, how did you know? How?' Naru thought, crying. 'And I always call you weak, Urashima. It is I who is weak,' Motoko thought, crying just as much. 'Even after all I did to you, you still hold no grudges?' Kitsune wondered, crying.  
  
"Second, I made a promise, or should I say two promises. I made a promise to Shinobu that I would get into Tokyo U this year around. I promised Narusegawa that I would get into Tokyo U this year with her. Finally, I promised myself that I'd get into Tokyo U. The second promise was that I would never give up on these girls until they didn't want me to stay anymore. I may be a clumsy and stupid pervert as how the girls always say, but I am also a man of my word and I never back from a promise I make." At this point, the trio outside was crying in a group hug continuously, Keitaro's words repeating in their heads; if anyone passed by them, they would've assumed that someone close to them had passed away.  
  
Haruka wiped a tear from her left eye. "That was.touching," she said, "Then again, if I didn't know you better, I would've called you incredibly nice or incredibly stupid."  
  
Keitaro blushed slightly and put a hand behind his head. "Haha! Maybe I am either one of those," he said. "Umm.can you please wait outside while I change?" Haruka nodded and walked outside to be greeted by a trio of crying and wailing girls in a group hug. She was somewhat annoyed that they overheard, but her annoyance changed to a sad smile. Motoko looked up and saw Haruka looking at them. "Umm.you see.ahh," she mumbled, trying to think of an excuse. The other two noticed her looking up and followed her gaze to see Haruka looking down at them. At that moment, all the girls felt guilty for overhearing without her permission and expected to be chewed out.  
  
"You know, you girls should be very glad to have a friend like him, who never holds anything against anyone," the older woman bent down to the girls' level whispered gently. "Now go to the bathroom and get yourself cleaned up." The three girls sniffed a bit and headed towards the ladies' room, leaving Shinobu and Suu under Haruka's care. Half a minute later Keitaro came out dressed in regular clothes and noticed only Suu and Shinobu.  
  
"Where's the rest?" he asked.  
  
"Bathroom," Haruka answered. Not suspecting anything out of the picture, Keitaro let it go at that. He noticed the still-sleeping girls and put Shinobu on his back. "Keitaro, are you going to be all right with that?" his aunt asked, still a bit worried. "After all, you did faint yesterday."  
  
"It's OK. I've never felt more refreshed," Keitaro gently countered. Haruka shrugged and let it off at that. At that moment the girls came back, looking more composed, save the red and puffy eyes. He noticed their eyes and became worried. "You know, you could've at least slept for a couple hours. You didn't have to stay up the whole night."  
  
"No, it would not have been proper," Motoko answered, somewhat softer than usual as she went and picked up the sleeping Suu.  
  
"Well.thanks again," he thanked them genuinely and turned around to start walking back home. His sincerity shook them like a massive earthquake and they were again on the verge of breaking into tears. Haruka, however, seemed to sense the imminent distress and patted all their backs. All the girls turned to face the older woman, who simply nodded, as in saying "It's going to be all right." They nodded back, smiled slightly and started walking as well.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N - MAN! What a long chapter!!! OK, that's enough of sick people being taken care of. This fic has reached a point where now I don't know how to continue the plot. Some people might be wondering how I manage to update so quickly. Well, thanks to daylights saving time, my biological clock is screwed up big time so I can't seem to go to sleep until 5 in the morning, so go figure.  
  
Can someone please verify that sword move? My copy of the manga is fan- translated and it seems to change so I would appreciate it if someone verified the sword move in his/her review.  
  
Also, I have not determined pairing just yet, and the reason why I write a lot of Naru is because exams are coming up so it would be logical to involve those two a great deal.  
  
OOC.hmm.I'm afraid I kinda made Motoko OOC, but, oh well, I'm letting it go for now. Besides, it's for the sake of the story. And also, she is still human so there is at least a shard of feelings in her. About Keitaro being muscular, IMO, it is not OOC, or its physical equivalent because a year's worth of daily scrubbing and washing WOULD give you at least a lean figure, but since Keitaro began with a lean figure, adding some muscles seemed like the next logical step.  
  
Some random notes about Keitaro - if you read the manga all the way till the end (either if you know Japanese, Chinese or you have a fan-translated copy), it's funny because Keitaro has this tendency to pat everyone on their heads.except Kitsune. That's just something I noticed, it has absolutely nothing to do with what I'm writing.  
  
If you want to, you can IM me if you want to discuss the manga with me. I'm always willing to talk anything about it.  
  
Anyways, that's enough of my rants. CONTINUE THOSE REVIEWS PLEASE!!!! 


	5. Chap 5

Love Hina: A Manlier Side? Chapter 5  
  
A/N - Thank you for those reviews. Either my fic's becoming good or it's becoming bad to get such reviews. Anyways, to those few people who have continuously read this fic, here's chapter 5. More notes at the end.  
  
The residents of Hinata Inn arrived in front of the inn. By then, Suu and Shinobu had woken up, each gave their own form of greetings and walked up the massive amount of stairs. They all entered and Suu shouted out, "Tadaima!"  
  
"Umm..Suu," Kitsune said. The foreign girl turned to face her, who, along with the rest of the residents, had a sweatdrop. "There's no one home."  
  
"Ara, ara, what have I missed?" was heard as a figure with long brown hair and twin "antennas" like Naru's hair came downstairs. All the residents looked up to her in surprise.  
  
"Mutsumi-san???" everyone else asked in surprise. Well, everyone except Haruka who had her indifferent mask on by the time they came in. A few seconds later, a turtle flew out behind Mutsumi and landed on Keitaro's head. "Myu myu myu!" it "myu"ed. Motoko, who walked behind him, took a couple steps back and mentally prepared herself.  
  
Keitaro laughed as he looked up and patted Tama. "Yeah, I missed you too, Tama," he said. He looked around and sighed. "Aah.feels good to be home again. Back to manager duties!" He started towards the hot springs but felt a hand on his arm, stopping him. "Eh?" he asked, and followed the hand with his eyes. "Narusegawa?" he asked, confused.  
  
"You shouldn't overexert yourself; this is your first day back," Naru said. She then blushed as she noticed Keitaro looking back at her.  
  
Keitaro stood there, confused. He then noticed her hand still around his arm. "Umm.Narusegawa, thanks for being concerned about me, but can you please let go of my arm? You do have a strong grip," Her eyes widened and she looked at her still outstretched hand creating a vice-like grip on his arm. Instantaneously, she let go and pulled it back as if his arm was infected, blushing more, and everyone noticed it. "Seriously, I'm perfectly fine. Stop worrying too much over me," Keitaro said, facing the group, then headed for the hot springs as originally planned, with Tama on him. As he disappeared behind the red short curtains that said "Female", a lone sigh was heard within the group. Everyone turned to the source.  
  
Naru looked around to see all the other residents looking back at her. "What?" she asked. Then she looked more closely to see Kitsune with her smirk and one eye visibly open and her hand on her chin, Shinobu with teary eyes and her hands balled into fists covering her chin, Suu looking up at her with curiosity as usual, Mutsumi simply smiling as usual and Motoko and Haruka giving looks of indifference. Intending on damage control, she looked at Shinobu and slightly bent over. "Shinobu," she started, but got cut off.  
  
Shinobu stood there, scared as ever, and it took her all her willpower not to run away. However, it wasn't enough; the moment the older girl bent over to get closer to her, her will cracked. The mentioning of her name dealt the final blow. "Waaah!!!!" she screamed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" was heard as she ran towards her room.  
  
"Shinobu, wait! It's not what you think!" Naru yelled in vain. "Mou." she sighed, then yawned. "I guess I'll go to bed for a while," she mumbled as she headed upstairs. She heard another yawn and saw Kitsune follow her with a sleepy expression. "Oh yeah, you were up too." She then looked towards Motoko, "Motoko-chan, aren't you tired?"  
  
"No, Naru-sempai. I'm all right. I can go for days without sleep," Motoko answered, looking up. Naru looked back at her, amazed. Her voice was steady and she looked refreshed, save the red eyes, which were now losing its redness slowly.  
  
'Whoa! This girl is amazing! She doesn't even look tired one bit! Speaking of looks, I probably look horrible right now,' Naru mused. "Oh well, we're headed to bed," she announced and continued her way upstairs, Kitsune closely following behind, inadvertently mirroring Naru's motions. A minute later, two doors opened and closed as both girls went in and fell asleep almost instantaneously.  
  
"Ara, ara, everyone seems very tired. I think I will join Naru-san in her room as well," Mutsumi announced and followed the two drowsy women upstairs.  
  
"Back to my room! I have to improve my mecha Tama!" Suu yelled excitedly. She quickly hugged Motoko then ran off to her room, leaving the kendo girl to herself in the living room. She then got up and headed for the outdoor patio.  
  
'I do not understand. Urashima has just come from the hospital, and yet, he insists on doing chores, even when we don't want him to,' Motoko thought. She arrived at the patio, unsheathed her katana and grabbed it with both hands. She took it above her head, stuck a leg out, and finished with lunging forward and bringing the katana down in a fast, smooth arc, then stepped back. She repeated the motion constantly for another good twenty minutes, and then sat down to catch her breath. '1000 slashes, quite tiring, but very lightening,' she mused, breathing heavily. As her breathing slowed down to a more normal and relaxing pace, a thought struck her. 'Urashima, I truly hated you when you first stepped into Hinata Inn, and yet, you didn't seem bothered. Why do you continue to work so hard? Why do you continue to stay here, despite what we have put you through? No, why do you stay despite what I put you through?' As she asked that question, various memories came into mind.  
  
MEMORIES START  
  
MEMORY 1 Motoko started unwinding her wrappings around her chest when the door to her room opened. "Motoko, today's your turn to cook the rice," Keitaro announced, then froze. Motoko went from shock to anger.  
  
"URASHIMA!" she screamed. "You will pay! Hiken, Zanteusen!"  
  
"Wah!" Keitaro shouted as he barely dodged her sword. "I'm sorry! I really am!"  
  
MEMORY 2 Motoko sat down in the hot springs in the early morning, relaxing and preparing her body for the day's training. Her silent reverie was broken when a door opened and someone ran in. "Idiot! I woke up late again! Need to wake early to clean hot springs!" She froze when she realized the voice sounded quite masculine. She turned around, and noticed Keitaro with his cleaning gear. He himself turned when he noticed a figure move from the corner of his eye. "Motoko?"  
  
"Urashima!!!" she got up, holding onto her towel with one hand and grabbing her katana with the other. "Do you intend to get your filthy hands and eyes on a woman's body with the cover of the steam?"  
  
"No! I didn't realize you were here! I'm sorry!" he shouted as he tried to beat a retreat.  
  
"Hiken! Zangan Ken!" she yelled as she sent a burst of ki from her unsheathed katana. It hit its target head-on, sending the kanririn on a free trip across Hinata.  
  
MEMORY 3 Motoko walked down the corridors of Hinata Inn and saw Keitaro walk opposite of her direction from the other end. Nothing was out of the ordinary until Keitaro tripped and his face landed right in her chest. He noticed where his face was and immediately stood upright rigidly. "Motoko! I'm sorry!" he quickly blurted out. However, Motoko wouldn't hear it.  
  
"You perverted, low-life male! Get out of my sight! Hiken, Hyatsu Karyouran!" The ever-invincible manager took the brutal attack and went back-first into the walls behind him.  
  
END MEMORY  
  
'Even after all the hell I, or everyone else for that matter, put him through, he still stays. Why? By now, any normal man would've become insane, or died, from the stress Urashima gets, or if they had common sense, they would've left early on. Yet.' Motoko trailed mentally. 'Yet, he stays.' Motoko's thoughts were derailed by the said man.  
  
"Motoko?" Keitaro called. The said girl turned around to see the object of her thoughts in a white gi looking down, concerned. "Are you all right? You seem tired."  
  
Motoko's tongue became a lead block as she barely managed to keep the sharp comment she saved for Keitaro from making its way through her mouth. Instead, she whispered, "Yes, I just overexerted myself during my training." It was the truth, to some extent.  
  
"Ah. Well, you shouldn't train too hard, you can get sick again," Keitaro chided. He then sat next to her. "Are you going to meditate as we arranged?"  
  
Motoko looked at him with a blank face. Then recognition flashed by as she recalled her request some time ago to meditate together. "Yes, I shall join you shortly after I relax myself," she said. Keitaro nodded, crossed his legs and closed his eyes. Seconds later, his breathing became a slow pattern, as if he was sleeping, and his face changed to show a very small smile. Motoko noticed it, then felt the same feeling of peace she did when she found him meditating the first time. It did wonders as her body relaxed and Motoko's mind slipped into meditation mode. She used this moment to contemplate about Keitaro further.  
  
'Urashima Keitaro. Third-year ronin. Manager of an all-girls dormitory. Potential womanizer,' she mentally listed his characteristics, then paused. 'No, he isn't a womanizer anymore,' she corrected herself. 'Still, this list doesn't tell me why he intends on staying and suffering. He has almost never complained about his workload or anything else that had to do with the inn. He always took everything in stride. Now, he almost gladly does his work. Why?'  
  
A familiar image flashed by. An image of her sister. An image of her sister and a younger version of herself standing in front of a stone column. An image of her sister smiling before she let loose her ki, then smiling as she let it loose, and finally still smiling after letting it loose and seeing the stone column crack down the middle, then break. An image of her ever-smiling sister.  
  
It finally made sense; Motoko finally understood why he wanted to stay despite the hardships. 'It's because he enjoys what he does. That's why he never complains,' Motoko finished, then added with a tinge of sadness, 'Even despite my actions, he still enjoys it. Why?' Why does he hold nothing against me, or anyone else that does him harm?' She abruptly stopped meditating when she couldn't continue her train of thoughts. She looked to her side to still see Keitaro meditating, absolutely oblivious to his surroundings. A minute later, he stirred and noticed Motoko looking at him. "Motoko, is something wrong?" he asked.  
  
Motoko did not register Keitaro's question or his end of meditation until some five seconds later. She looked at him for a moment, and then looked down. "Urashima," she started, and hesitated.  
  
"Hmm?" the said man asked, confusion etched all over his face by her sudden quietness.  
  
"Why?" she started, and paused again, not having the courage to ask the pressing question.  
  
"Why what? Motoko, what's troubling you so much?" Keitaro asked as he shifted positions to sit in front of her as opposed to next to her. She noticed his change in position. Her head then snapped up.  
  
"Why do you stay despite all the trouble you have to go through because of me?" she asked, almost on the brink of tears. "Why do you always forgive me for whatever atrocity I do on you?" Keitaro simply sighed and readjusted his glasses.  
  
"I thought we had this discussion before. You never bore ill will towards me," he started, then noticed that it was slightly inaccurate. "Okay, probably some ill will in the beginning because a male was going to be a manager of a female dorm. But that's understandable. I've made numerous clumsy mistakes by walking in when you were.not presentable, I should say and I paid for them, dearly at times. But that's when you struck. You never struck at your own whim," he finished. Motoko had her head down, not being able to keep eye contact with him during his mini lecture.  
  
"But I can never bring myself to forgive myself for these actions! What if I killed you? What if I harmed you so badly you lost a sense or worse? What if-" she got cut off by Keitaro patting her on her head.  
  
"Let me get two points straight. One, nothing in the 'What if's happened, so there's no worry. Two, I will not forgive you," Motoko's eyes widened in shock, "unless you can forgive yourself," Keitaro told firmly but gently.  
  
That did it. The emotional dam inside the girl broke and she latched onto Keitaro, letting loose her tears. The afternoon atmosphere was filled with a girl's loud and nonstop sobbing. Keitaro took her into his arms and hugged her gently as he rubbed her back. "It's OK," he repeatedly whispered, hoping that the girl would calm down. Five minutes of sobbing and a wet gi later, Motoko let go of him and brought herself upright. "Feeling better?" Keitaro asked. She smiled slightly and nodded. "Good. Now go take a bath, you look horrible," he half-joked and got up to head for his room.  
  
"Urashima," Motoko called. Keitaro stopped and turned to face her. "Thank you," she said, smiling. She felt better, now that a great burden had been lifted off of her heart, and it only became lighter as Keitaro smiled back and gave her a thumbs up before heading back to his room.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N - If you noticed, this is quite a short chapter compared to the rest. I decided to keep it that way so I could make a Motoko-centric chapter. Expect the next few to be around this long.  
  
GAH!!!!! Man.this is becoming harder and harder!! Whoever knew writing something introspective would be so hard? I really hope Motoko doesn't seem too OOC.well after all, she's human too and she also has feelings. I tried to model her after Vol. 9, chapter 73, or in the anime, episode 25. Whether I did a good job or not, it's up to you readers to decide so leave those reviews please!!!  
  
The next few chapters are probably going to be hardest to write because I am going to attempt to write something from a couple people's different points of view. Kitsune - her character isn't clearly defined save her personality, laziness, trickery and the lack of serious moments between her and Keitaro. Okay, not lack, but quite few. Naru - I do not want to rehash what others came up with. Oh, and I cannot forget avoiding incredible amounts of WAFF; not that I have anything against it, but it just won't fit.  
  
Thanks go to Harvey Bautista for some really suggestive reviews and also to Shinji-Ikari for prereading the previous chapter. Sorry I forgot to include your name beforehand!!! And thanks also go to Jun Chan for helping me out with the sword moves. Oh, and I can never forget you reviewers out there for constantly providing feedback!!! THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!  
  
I also noticed another funny thing in the manga: we do not see Naru's little sister until, literally speaking, the very end. Funny eh?  
  
Is this chapter sounding WAFFy? I hope not, because I've seen WAFFier.  
  
If anyone wants to, you can always drop me a line at bugbeak@yahoo.com just for the hell of it.  
  
Anyways, that's enough of my rants, whether they are relevant to the fic or not. Leave reviews please, as usual!!! 


	6. Chap 6

Love Hina: A Manlier Side?

Chapter 6

            "Ugh," Kitsune moaned as she re-entered the world of the awake. She rolled over one way and her hand hit something hard. The pain jolted her awake as she slightly cursed and cradled her hand, pulling herself into a sitting position. She looked outside to see the sun setting and noticed that it was almost near dinnertime. 'Whoa...no hangover...what happened?' she realized. No pain radiated from her head and she registered no feeling of dizziness that resulted from it. 'That's right, I took a nap,' she recounted. She then got up and made herself presentable by dressing in her usual tank top and shorts that exposed enough skin to make almost any man drool. She made her way out of her room towards the kitchen to see what kind of cuisine Shinobu came up with.

            "Shinobu," Kitsune said as she entered the kitchen and noticed the said girl cooking. She looked up and smiled.

            "Kitsune-san, you're awake," Shinobu said.

            "Yeah, and hungry. What's cooking?" the older lady inquired, then sniffed the air, which only made her hungrier. "Whatever it is, it smells good."

            "Tonight's meal is sukiyaki," the resident chef announced as she turned off the stove and headed for the fridge to take out more ingredients for something else.

            "Mmm...really looking forward to it," Kitsune mumbled. Her stomach growled in agreement, to which both girls laughed. She left the kitchen towards her room when she noticed some sound and movement from a distance. She stopped to see what was going on, and was rewarded for her short patience. From a corner stepped out Keitaro, smiling at something, or rather, someone. This riled Kitsune's curiosity. What followed her next confused and probably shocked her. A couple seconds later stepped out Motoko, not wearing her usual mask of seriousness. In fact, it had a small smile; it was small, but it was a smile nonetheless, and that too a genuine one. It wasn't her face that shocked the fox lady but her proximity to the man.  They were, at least from her vantage point, standing next to each other. 'Wait a minute. That's Keitaro. He's a male. That's Motoko. She's a female. Motoko has something against him. Or she HAD something against him,' Kitsune tried to process all that she noticed and failed to come up with a logical reason. Instead, she decided to simply watch them. 

            "So yeah, I finally realized that I should enjoy what I do if I want to succeed, especially in getting into Tokyo U. Heh, as Narusegawa says, I'm an idiot, but for a reason. I still can't believe that it took me this long to realize it. So don't be like me and force yourself through everything, Motoko. It will make your life easier," Keitaro said, half-jokingly and half-seriously. Motoko simply nodded as she digested his joke and reasoning. They soon reached the stairways. "I'm going downstairs to check up on food and whatever I need to do."

            "Then I shall see you at the dining table later," Motoko replied, then headed for her room as Keitaro went downstairs. Kitsune could only see and store in memory what just happened. 'Motoko didn't try to kill him this time. What happened?' Oblivious to what was going on, Keitaro headed downstairs to the kitchen, where a very attracting smell wafted from. He entered the kitchen and saw Shinobu finish cooking a dish. 

            "Hi, Shinobu-chan!" he greeted. Shinobu turned and saw him, much to her relief, fully dressed.

            "Hello, Sempai," she replied, smiling and blushing slightly. 

            "What's cooking? It smells good from outside," the manager asked. He, just like Kitsune, was now quite hungry. 

            "Sukiyaki with some extras I created," she proudly announced. The youngest resident of Hinata Inn had always looked up to him as her role model, despite his main shortcoming of being a ronin, and always looked for a way to please him.  Despite the age difference, she even had a crush on him, which he had absolutely no idea about. 

            "Mmm! I'm really looking forward to it!" Keitaro openly said. Shinobu blushed again as he complimented her cooking again. Even though Keitaro complimented her cooking almost every meal, she couldn't help but blush every time he did so. This was no exception. "Is it almost done?" he asked.

            "Yes. Another minute and it is ready to serve," Shinobu said as she turned off the stove and started to take out a bunch of plates. 

            "I'll go and tell everyone else then," Keitaro said as he left the kitchen and started going to people's rooms. He reached Kitsune's room and lightly rapped on the shoji door. A grunt was heard, and seconds later, the door opened to show Kitsune in usual attire. Normally, Keitaro would've stared for a couple seconds and get teased, but this time around, he saw her come out and simply said, "Dinner's ready," then went upstairs. Kitsune looked at him in confusion, but tonight, until her hunger was satisfied, her stomach had control of her body instead of her head so not giving it much thought, she headed downstairs to the dining room. 

            Keitaro went upstairs and first headed for Motoko's room. As he lifted his hand in a knocking motion, the door opened and Motoko stepped out. Keitaro's eyes and ears did not register the motion and sound of the door and he simply knocked on what he thought was the door. Instead, it was Motoko's chest and then did he notice when there was no sound and what he assumed to be the door felt quite soft. He looked to see where his hand was, then realized that Motoko had come out. 

            "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice you came out," he said, smiling sheepishly as he had one of his hands behind his head in apology. "Anyways, dinner is ready," he said as he headed for Suu's room.

            Out of natural instinct, Motoko threw her right hand on her katana, but then realized something. 'I was going to hurt him again,' Motoko's mind screamed. She was about to break down again before Keitaro's words struck her again. "_I won't forgive you unless you can forgive yourself._" She relaxed her grip on the katana and herself and headed for the dining room, determined to fix her now-unwanted instinct. 

            "Suu-chan! Dinner's ready!" He said as he knocked on Suu's door. It opened, then Suu jumped onto Keitaro's shoulders. He was taken by surprise for a second, then adjusted himself to accommodate Suu's weight on his shoulders. 

            "Food?" she asked, excited. "Let's go Keitaro!" 

            "You can go first. I still have to get Narusegawa and Mutsumi-san," Keitaro told the second-youngest resident.

            "I want to be with you Keitaro. I'll go with you," she said, looking down at him from her vantage point.

            "All right, if that's what you want," he answered as he started his way towards Naru's room with Suu riding on his shoulders. He approached Naru's door and rapped it. There was no response. "Narusegawa? Mutsumi-san? Dinner's ready," he said loudly outside. Still no response. "Narusegawa? Mutsumi-san? You in there?" he asked, curious as to the lack of response. 

            "Why don't we go in?" Suu innocently suggested. Keitaro thought over the idea for a second.

            "I guess. As long as they aren't changing or anything," he said as he grabbed the door handle and slowly pulled it. He looked inside to see Naru and Mutsumi soundly sleeping. "Oh, they're asleep. Oh well, I'll get their food later then," he noted and headed for the dining room himself. A minute later, everyone, save Naru and Mutsumi, were seated around the table.  Shinobu noticed two empty seats.

            "What happened to Naru-sempai and Mutsumi-san?" she asked. The others noticed the empty seats.

            "They're asleep upstairs," he answered, to which Suu nodded vigorously. Satisfied by the answer, everyone started eating, and Kitsune remembered the scene she had observed earlier. "Ne, Motoko," she called between bites.

            Motoko turned to the older woman. "Yes?"

            "Let me ask you something," Kitsune started, with a glint in her eye. The younger girl noticed this and realized whatever she might ask wouldn't bode well and prepared herself as she simply nodded. "Were you trying to hit on Keitaro earlier?"

            Motoko simply froze while Keitaro looked up in confusion. Next to him, Suu tapped his arm. "Hit on? Is that delicious?" she asked, always thinking with her stomach than with her head. 

            Shinobu looked up with shock splattered all over her face. 'Motoko...and Sempai??? A couple??? Nooooo.....' she mentally wailed. Keitaro noticed the usually cool girl's obvious discomfort.

            "No, Kitsune, Motoko wasn't trying to hit on me. We just had a little discussion which resulted in making her feel better," he calmly explained. Before she could come back with another tease, Keitaro interrupted, "Make that a verbal discussion." This silenced the short-haired lady in surprise. Motoko silently thanked him for putting her off the hot seat.

            'How did he know I was going to bring THAT up?' Kitsune wondered over bites of food.

            'Phew...Motoko and Sempai are not dating,' Shinobu sighed in relief. Kitsune heard that and decided to make the chef her new target in teasing. 

            "Eh? Shinobu? What's with that sigh? You seem quite relieved about something," the fox lady smirked.

            Shinobu snapped her head up to face the older woman. "Eh?" she panicked. 

            "Oh! You're even blushing! You wouldn't be thinking about hitting on Keitaro also would you?" Kitsune pressed, enjoying watching the blue-haired girl squirm. The said man lifted his head up when his name was mentioned. 

            'N-n-n-o! That's not it, I promise you!!" Shinobu stammered, waving her arms frantically. The older woman snickered, and decided to show mercy and stopped her teasing. Shinobu calmed slightly, and noticed someone looking at her.  She turned to see Keitaro looking right back at her, and froze. Keitaro simply smiled and went back to eating his food while Shinobu froze, the image of his smile etched in her mind. She blushed once again as she ate. 

            Dinner passed without any more incidents as each person finished, said her thanks and took the dishes to the kitchen before heading back to their own activities.  The only two people left on the table, Keitaro and Shinobu, still ate their food. Keitaro then stood up as he finished his meal.

            "Thank you again for another good meal, Shinobu-chan!" Keitaro said as he took his dishes to the kitchen. As usual, the said girl blushed and looked down on her food, having trouble chewing it. He came out of the kitchen holding a tray and loaded the extra servings of untouched food meant for Naru and Mutsumi and was about to leave for the said girl's room when Shinobu said something.

            "Umm...sempai?" she called timidly. Keitaro looked at her. Noticing his eyes on her, she fidgeted before continuing. "I have some problems with my math homework. Can you help me later tonight?"

            "Sure, I'll come by your room after I check up on Narusegawa and give her her food," he said as he left, carrying the tray of food. The young girl nodded her thanks and took her dishes to the kitchen to wash them and the rest of the dishes.

            Keitaro approached Naru's room and rapped on the door. "Are you awake?" he called out. There was some shuffling, then a second later, the shoji door opened to show a drowsy but otherwise presentable Naru. "Oh, did I wake you? Sorry about that," he apologized.

            "Nah, it's OK. I needed to wake up anyways," Naru mumbled while rubbing her eyes. Her stomach growled and she looked down at it, slightly embarrassed. "Oh well, food time."

            "Oh yeah, here's your and Mutsumi-san's dinner," Keitaro gave the tray of food. "I'll leave you for now," he headed for Shinobu's room. Naru tried to say something but nothing came from her mouth. She took the tray into her room and closed the door behind her. He headed for Shinobu's room to take care of her request. "Shinobu-chan, are you in there?" he called, knocking the door. 

            "Come in!" she said from inside. Keitaro walked in and saw Shinobu sitting at her desk with a number of books open. He approached her and looked down at the problems. 

            "What's the trouble?" he asked as he took one of her pencils and a sheet of paper.

            "You see..." For a couple of hours, Shinobu pointed out her problems, Keitaro helped her solve the problems and Shinobu re-did the problems again. 

            While Keitaro and Shinobu busied themselves with her problems, Kitsune sat idly in her room, playing around with her guitar. Assuming that no one was around listening to her, she tuned it, grabbed a chord, cleared her throat, and started playing and singing:

_"Today is the first day of the rest of our lives,  
__Tomorrow is too late to pretend everything's all right  
__I'm not getting any younger as long as you don't get any older  
__I'm not going to state that yesterday never was"_

            Kitsune stopped, letting the neck of the guitar go. She collapsed backward toward the sofa and tried to remember the rest of the song.  It came back to her and she started playing again:

_"Bloodshot deadbeat and lack of sleep,  
__Making your mascara bleed  
__tears__ down your face  
__leaving__ traces of mistakes, when I say  
__  
If I promise to go to church on Sunday,  
__will__ you go with me on Friday night?  
__If you live with me, I'll die for you  
__and__ this compromise."_

            As Kitsune played and sang each line, all sorts of thoughts ran through her head. Most of these thoughts rotated around the only male resident of the Inn.  "Tomorrow is too late to pretend everything's all right," she whispered. She took out an envelope and stashed in numerous bills.

            Finally, Shinobu had the concept laid down and thanked him. She then made what was to her the bravest move yet. As Keitaro opened the door, she asked. "Sempai?" He stopped and turned to face her. 

            "Hmm?" he asked, curious as to what she was about to ask.

            "Umm...err..." she stammered, not quite being able to make out the rest of her sentence. Keitaro approached her.

            "What's the matter? It's OK, you can tell me," he said, smiling lightly to loosen her up.

            "You see," she trailed for a few seconds, then just closed her eyes and blurted out what she wanted to say in a jumble, "Willyoutakemeoutonadate?" By now she was blushing harder than ever and she couldn't bear to look up at Keitaro.

            The said man was initially surprised at the timid girl's bold request. His surprise, however, was short-lived and was replaced by a form of amusement as he placed a hand on her head. Shinobu froze on contact, fearing the worst. 'Sempai's going to reject me, sempai's going to reject me!' ran through her head constantly until Keitaro spoke.

            "Shinobu-chan, maybe not a date," he first said. Her heart fell and almost broke into two pieces, had he not have continued, "But I will take you out somewhere." Shocked, her head snapped back and she did nothing but stare at her role model, who simply smiled back.  A pool of tears was forming in her eyes as she fully digested what he said. 

            "Sempai! Thank you! Thank you so much!!!" she wailed, letting loose a fresh stream of tears. Keitaro took her into a hug, which she hurriedly returned, that too with a grip that would make Suu look very tame in bed. Keitaro winced, and gently urged the girl to let go, which she reluctantly did. 

            "How about we go out this Saturday, after your classes are over?" he suggested. Shinobu vigorously nodded, almost like a three-year-old kid who got a pile of candy. "All right, that's settled. I have to get back and do some work. Just keep working on it, that's the only way to improve," he said as he exited the room. Shinobu, now the happiest girl ever, was all smiles that night as she solved problem after problem in her assignment.

            Keitaro reached his room and sat down in front of his kotatsu as he prepared himself for another night of studying. Upstairs, as Naru and Mutsumi, who still hasn't gone home yet, were studying, Naru's mind was on anything but studying. 'Why can't I talk to him like before anymore?' she pondered. She finally gathered her courage and headed for the hole that connected her and Keitaro's room together. Then she heard him say something and decided to just listen, like last time.

            As he prepared his books, he heard a knock outside. "Come in!" he yelled. The door opened to reveal a surprisingly sober, and not to mention dressed, Kitsune, for once able to stand on both legs and be decent be wearing clothes that covered all of her torso. "Kitsune-san?" he asked, surprised at her sober state, or simply the lack of an alcoholic drink of sorts on one of her hands. Upstairs, Naru lifted her doll and see if her best friend was drunk again. For Keitaro and Naru, the surprises did not end there. Instead of sauntering up to him with her trademark foxy grin, she walked up to him, as if she had a definite purpose of sorts, sat down across from him and simply and wordlessly placed a brown envelope on the middle of the table. She then silently sat across from him, her head bent down as in prayer, avoiding eye contact with him.

            "Take it," she said simply. 

            Keitaro gave her a weird look. 'It's not usual for her to give me something, other than the yearly Valentine's chocolate,' he mused as he took the envelope. 'This is heavy for a small size. If it's rent, rent isn't due for another three weeks,' he thought to himself as he picked it up and opened it to see its contents. His face exhibited immense shock. "Kitsune-san! What's all this money for???" he exclaimed. He roughly counted it and the shock grew. "This has to be at least some 100,000 yen (roughly 833 dollars)!!! What's all this for?" Kitsune remained silent and unmoving. While this continued to surprise the girl above, the surprise turned into shock, which turned into worry for the resident manager. Noticing the lack of response, he got up and walked over to her side. He then sat down next to her and she still didn't budge.  

            By now, Naru was concerned; for as long as she knew her, Kitsune was never silent. She was always the loud, ever-smiling type, whether she played a joke or simply laughed, and as far as she was concerned, this was _not_ Kitsune. Forgetting her own problems for the moment, she dropped down the hole. "Kitsune?" she asked. Keitaro saw the younger woman and motioned to her to come, which she did readily. She came and sat next to Kitsune. "Kitsune, what's bothering you? This is so unlike you," Naru asked softly. The older woman lifted her head slightly, looked to her left, then her right, noticing her fellow tenants on both sides of her. Wordlessly, she got up and headed out. She opened the door and stepped out, but stopped, sticking out her forearm against the door frame and leaning against it. As the other two started getting up, Kitsune spoke.

            "Urashima Keitaro," she began and paused. This stopped all movement. "How do you do it?"

            "How do I do what?" the said man replied. 'What IS with her? I'd rather that she try to con me out of my money like usual rather than go through someone who obviously ISN'T herself,' he thought to himself. For a moment, he didn't register the fact that being conned out of his money by Kitsune involved lots of flesh exposure and groping.

            "How do you stand it? How do you stand the way I act? How?" she asked, with a slightly wavering voice, but unmoving from her current posture.  There was a pause as the older woman anxiously waited for Keitaro's reply, who was giving it some thought before he finally opened his mouth.

            "Mitsune," he started, placing a hand on her right shoulder. She tensed, somehow expecting the worst. "When we interact with people, we have to accept them the way they are. We have to take the whole package, nothing more, and nothing less. If we do not want to accept the person in its entirety, we become nothing short of hypocrites.  True, there are times when I feel like I will snap whenever you come by and rip me off, I'll admit that," he paused momentarily, during which Kitsune's head bent down a bit, "But I realize that playing tricks and the like are part of what makes you who you are, to me, to us, and, most importantly, to yourself." He heard Kitsune sniff, and saw her lift her other hand to wipe her tears. Then she pushed herself off the door and gently grabbed the hand on her shoulder while turning around to face him. 'Never realized she was shorter than I was,' Keitaro randomly mused, looking slightly down at her.

            Looking up, Kitsune softly said, "I'm sorry. Take the money as compensation." She paused and asked, even more softly, "Am I forgiven?"

            "That is for you to decide," he answered, "If you can forgive yourself, I can forgive you." Kitsune gently broke her grip, which the man readily let go, and made a turn to walk back to her room. "Thank you," she whispered. She started walking when Keitaro called out her name.

            "Kitsune!" The said woman stopped and turned back to the manager. Seconds later, she reflexively caught a brown envelope, which happened to be her money. She looked back at him, confused and scared. "Just pay the rent when the time comes." She simply looked back, smiling and about to break into tears, but managed to hold them and calmly walked back into her room.

A/N – Sorry for the delay, I've had some trouble trying to describe Kitsune and her situation. However, the hardest is yet to come: how to do a Naru-centric chapter without rehashing stuff from the manga or other fanfics. Anyways, special thanks go to Harvey Bautista for prereading this work and to those who have faithfully continued reading and reviewing this fic. 

For the next chapter, I am looking for more prereaders; drop me a line if you're interested.

I have a webpage now! Check my profile and this is what'll get updated first. Come by and leave a message or something!

My goodness...fanfiction.net doesn't seem to let me center stuff, or let me put in a URL, so forgive me if some of the things here seem wierd in terms of looks and formation.

Once again, folks, review please!!!


	7. chap 7

Love Hina: A Manlier Side  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Shinobu opened her drawer, her face a wide smile and her eyes like twinkling stars. She started rummaging through her tidy collection of clothes, trying to pick something out. 'Today's my date with Sempai! I'm so happy!' she thought as she swiped through dresses, skirts, blouses and whatnot. After a moment of uncertainty, she finally settled on a thin, black sweater and a grey thigh-high skirt, accompanied by black stockings. She looked at herself in the mirror and did a quick twirl. 'It feels good!!!' she smiled widely at the mirror and looked at her watch. 'Good timing,' she thought and walked out of her room.  
  
Kitsune, outside loitering as usual, noticed Shinobu coming downstairs. At first, she gave it no thought, then realized her different attire and looked back at her. "Shinobu?" she called, surprised by the lack of the simple one-piece dress she usually wore.   
  
She looked towards the sofa where the older woman stretched over. "Hai?" she asked, her smile never leaving her face.  
  
Kitsune, stumped, simply stared. 'This girl is very happy today, and very dressed. What is going on?' While trying to form an answer, Naru walked in.   
  
"Eh? Shinobu?" she asked, stumped as well. "What's the occasion?"  
  
"I have a date today!" she beamed. If it was possible, the smile grew wider. This stunned Naru and Kitsune.  
  
"D-d-d-date?" both mouthed, not believing their ears. Shinobu, not noticing their disbelief, nodded vigorously. "With who?"  
  
Her smile subsided a bit but still stayed while her cheeks reddened slightly. "Urashima-sempai," she whispered, loud enough for them to hear. Two faces faulted upon hearing the name.  
  
"Keitaro???" both yelled, disbelief now incredulity. The younger girl's face reddened a bit more as she shyly nodded. Both older girls were now rendered speechless, trying to process the information with their brains, which also did a face-fault. Kitsune's came back online first and she approached the younger resident and bent down to her height. She brought her face close to one of her ears.  
  
"Remember, Keitaro is a guy. Even if he forces you, do not let him have it easily," she whispered, smirking the whole way. Shinobu simply looked down, extremely flushed. Naru picked up on what her friend said.  
  
"Kitsune!!! Shinobu's only 13 years old! Keitaro has enough common sense to not do that on someone that young!!!" she yelled. She then approached Shinobu, grabbed her arm and gently tugged it. "Come on, you can't be late on your first date right?" she gently encouraged as the two of them left the Inn, leaving a smirking Kitsune.  
  
Naru led the younger girl to the top of the stairs and gently pushed Shinobu forward. "You'll be all right. Keitaro was a great date," the older girl tried to sooth the blue-haired girl's nerves. She then noticed someone at the base of  
  
the stairs and realized it was none other than Keitaro himself. "Come on! He's down there!" she said. Shinobu noticed too and started to run down the stairs. "Have fun!" Naru yelled at the rapidly shrinking girl.  
  
Keitaro walked around a corner and saw a figure running down the stairs like a madman. The streak of blue that passed by him momentarily, then back, was enough to tell that it was his date for today. He gave the said girl a quick lookover and whistled. "You look nice today, Shinobu-chan," he complimented, to which Shinobu reacted by just blushing and looking down.  
  
"Thank you, Sempai," she whispered lightly. She then looked up and noticed what Keitaro was wearing: alongsleeve white shirt, bottomed with a pair of blue jeans, very different from what he usually wore around the house. "You look good too," she complimented him back.  
  
"Ah, this is nothing," he scoffed in good humor. Shinobu gave a smile as he placed a hand around her shoulder. "Come on, let's go have some fun," he said, to which the girl's smile grew even bigger.   
  
From the top, Naru observed the interaction between the two. While she couldn't hear anything because of the substantial distance, she could tell by the body language that they were already starting to have fun. 'He may seem different, but...' she thought to herself. Suddenly, she felt a feeling of anger inside her and felt like running over. 'Ooooh...I should run over there and give both of them a nice punch! That'd feel so better!' she thought, then gasped. 'Wait...did I say I wanted to even punch Shinobu-chan?' She placed her feet on a step and sat on the ground, trying to think. 'What is with me? One minute I'm encouraging Shinobu on her first date and the next minute I hate her guts! Am I...jealous?' She sat there, contemplating her feelings, especially towards her kanririn and study buddy.  
  
At that moment, Motoko walked up the stairs, having come back from a practice session at a different dojo that invited her to spar with the students. She noticed the almost statue-like Naru sitting, staring in front. If she didn't know any better, she would've sworn that Naru became the Thinking Man. Concerned, she approached the older woman.   
  
"Naru-sempai," Motoko called out. Nothing was her reply. She then placed a hand on Naru's shoulder and slowly shook her. "Naru-sempai," she called out, this time a bit loudly. This woke up the brown-haired woman as she looked around, suddenly aware of her surroundings, and spotted Motoko.  
  
"Oh, hi, Motoko-chan. How was practice?" she asked, noticing the bokken on one of her hands.   
  
"It was fine as usual," she replied. Then her previous image of Naru came back. "Umm...are you all right?" she asked, with a hint of concern.  
  
"Eh? Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Naru asked, confused.  
  
"When I came up, I saw you in a position that resembled a statue. You were also unresponsive," the swordswoman replied.   
  
"Oh. I was doing some thinking," Naru replied.  
  
"Ah. Well, I had better get going. Some lunch would be nice about now," Motoko said as she walked towards the Inn.  
  
"Shinobu's not in right now," Naru called out. Motoko stopped and faced her. "She's on a date with Keitaro."  
  
"Oh really? That sounds nice," the black-haired girl said absent-mindedly. She continued her way back towards Hinata Inn. Kitsune observed everything from the courtyard and opened her mouth once the swordswoman was out of sight.   
  
"Well, Naru, it looks like you've got some competition coming your way," she said. Naru turned to her friend with a confused look, to which the older girl just shook her head with a smile. "You like Keitaro and so does Motoko. How much more direct can I get?"  
  
Naru immediately turned her face forward, a blush taking over her entire visage. "N-n-no! That's not it!"  
  
Kitsune picked up on her teasing, "Of course it isn't! You just saw Shinobu walk away, comfortably close and snuggled in with Keitaro. THAT'S what's bothering you!"   
  
The image of Shinobu with her arms clasped around Keitaro flashed in her mind and stayed there like a bright neon sign. Naru then suddenly got up and started running towards the Inn and her room while letting out a frustrated "ARGH!" As she got to the door, she turned around and faced her friend. "Mitsune! You're horrible!" she yelled and turned towards her room. The said woman just chuckled as Suu ran out of the building, only she had a smile as opposed to a frown  
  
"Hey, what's with Naru? Does she want to play?" Suu asked expectantly.   
  
The fox-lady didn't understand what the hyperactive girl was referring to, but she then remembered how fast Naru ran into the building. "I don't know. You should ask her yourself. She needs to put some things off her mind for a while," she finished with a smirk. Hearing this, the Hinata transfer student ran back. Kitsune then faced the steps leading down and let out a wistful sigh.   
  
Motoko entered her room, closed her door and sat down, intending on doing some meditation. A good half-hour of silence permeated the room as Motoko retained a stern face, which suddenly fell into one of shock. "Did I agree to the date between Urashima and Shinobu??? Why is it that I can only think of that one cursed word???" she yelled out.   
  
Naru burst into her room, slammed her door and immediately took out her diary. A good half-hour of silence permeated the room as Naru sat there, blankly looking at an empty page, save one word: "Date". She then got up in frustration. "Argh! Why can't I think of something else? Why does that date always come back to mind???" she yelled out.  
  
"I need some fresh air," was heard from two places simultaneously as one girl picked up her bokken while the other picked up a light jacket and walked out.  
  
"498! 499! 500!" Motoko yelled as she brought herself down, dropping her bokken, in fatigue, taking giant gulps of air. As her sore muscles unwound, she sat down, back towards the railing of the patio, looking up in deep thought. "Why did they go on a date? How could they? Shinobu is only some thirteen years old!"  
  
Motoko paused for a moment. "I wonder...what does it feel like to go on a date?" When the words came out of her mouth, her eyes became the size of  
  
saucers as a hand flew to her mouth. "Did I just say I wanted to go on a date?" she asked herself incredulously. Denying it, she gripped her bokken and went  
  
back to practicing, with a determined look on her face.  
  
Naru walked down the streets of Hinata in random directions, making a left or a right at any intersection. "Keitaro...Keitaro..." she repeated numerous times, almost in a charm. "Why do I always end up thinking about him? Do I have feelings for him?" No answer came. "Do I...then have feelings..." she trailed, not being able to answer the question. Then she made one more random turn and almost fell back in shock. "Speak of the devil..." she muttered as she saw a smiling Keitaro and Shinobu walking down the street. Fortunately for her, they didn't notice her presence some mere feet away as both of them walked arm-in-arm, engrossed in conversation. If Naru didn't know either of them better, she would've sworn that they were an actual couple. Naru quickly hid behind a pile of boxes stacked vertically and observed the couple walk by as they talked nonstop.   
  
"So, how's school going for you?" Keitaro asked between bites of a hot dog he purchased.  
  
"It's all right, Sempai. Ever since you've come and tutored me, my grades have improved very much. Thank you," she said, bowing slightly.   
  
Keitaro chuckled. "It really isn't much, honestly. You worked hard and that's what counts," he humbled himself. "Do you have many friends at school?"  
  
Shinobu's smile faded slightly, but still stayed. "I don't have many friends at school." At that point, her smile widened. "But all my friends are at Hinata Inn. I don't care if I don't have any at school because I can trust those at Hinata Inn."  
  
"That's good to hear from you. Sigh, I remember how timid you were when we first met. Too bad I didn't really give a good impression," Keitaro mused loudly, looking up to the sky.   
  
The young girl giggled slightly, remembering how he presented himself. "Yes, I don't think wearing nothing would be a good idea next time," she joked. Both shared a quick laugh. Keitaro then looked down from the sky and noticed a bench.  
  
"Here, let's go sit there," he said, ushering the resident chef to the bench. Both sat down comfortably close to each other, Shinobu enjoying her proximity to her date. Unknown to both, Naru crept into a nearby bush. "Say, do you have any boyfriends at school? Or at least any guy friends?"  
  
At the mention of "boyfriend", Shinobu immediately gazed on the grass beneath her feet, her face reddening by the second. "Boy...friend?"  
  
"Come on, Shinobu-chan, I know there's a boy you like in your class, or a class or two above you. It's all normal at your age," Keitaro gently prodded. Little did he know he was hitting closer to home than he actually thought.   
  
"Umm..." Shinobu nervously stammered. Keitaro looked at her expectantly.   
  
"Is it someone older than you?" he asked, hoping that would jump-start the nervous wrack sitting next to him.   
  
"Yes," she whispered softly.  
  
"Ah. Does he go to your school?" he continued.  
  
The blue-haired girl shook her head, suddenly having lost the ability to cover up her infatuation with the man next to her.   
  
"Does he go to school?" he asked.   
  
It took all her willpower not to lose composure and run off like a chicken that just lost its head. She shook her head yet again.   
  
Keitaro laughed good-heartedly. "Ha ha ha, it can't be me now, can it?" Since he had his face up towards the sky again, he didn't see Shinobu's eyes widen, her face exhibit shock. "Who would like a sad third-year dropout like me anyways?" He heard some sniffing sounds from next to him and looked down to see Shinobu crying. "What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly concerned.  
  
Shinobu sniffed a few times before throwing herself onto Keitaro."Sempai!" This took Keitaro and Naru both by surprise; both just froze there for a moment in their respective positions. The manager gained some senses and embraced the younger girl with one arm while petting her head with his other hand. Unknown to both, Naru sat there in the bushes, frozen and unresponsive, just staring at the scene ahead of her and taking in whatever she saw.  
  
"Shinobu, what's wrong?" he asked in a soothing voice. In response, the blue-haired girl just cried into his chest, slowly wetting his shirt. Keitaro decided to let her cry whatever was troubling her out before asking her again. They stayed in this pose for the next five minutes, during which Naru just watched. During the time the couple hugged, emotions were tearing the brown-haired girl left and right. On one end of the spectrum, she wanted to disregard the circumstances and run to comfort the younger girl. Yet on the other end, she saw herself in place of the younger girl. She didn't even have enough time to accept or deny any of these emotions, for Shinobu had stopped crying.   
  
"Sempai," she started. The said man looked down at her, making eye contact. Looking down into the blue eyes, Keitaro saw something that he never saw in them, or in her, for that matter: confidence. "I have a confession to make." Keitaro dumbly looked at her and simply motioned to her to continue. "I..." she stuttered before taking a deep breath.   
  
'What is she going to say?' ran throughKeitaro's and Naru's minds as both held their breaths, though Naru had a better, or worse, idea. "Could it be?"  
  
"I like you," the blue-haired girl whispered at first. Then she repeated herself, a bit forcefully, "I like you!" While Keitaro looked at her, still trying to make sense of what she said, the younger girl looked up at him, her eyes glazing with tears.   
  
Inside her, those that represented her body, her mind and her soul were in turmoil, playing the blame game and pointing fingers.  
  
"What the hell did you start doing that for??" the mind, a Shinobu wearing a black full-body leotard and armed like a second armor, yelled at the body, a Shinobu donned in a kimono.   
  
"Well then, why did you have to follow up with the proclamation??" the body yelled back. By now, both had their heads against each other, glaring and growling at each other like wolves over the carcass of their prey.  
  
"You do realize that she has had this bottled up inside of her for God knows how long. Couple that with her parents divorcing and that puts more strain on the dam. It was only a matter of time before it burst," the soul calmly said. The other two stopped glaring at each other and digested the soul's words.  
  
Minutes passed as both just looked down at each other, one in confusion, the other in anxiety. Finally, the confused one opened his mouth. "You know, I did expect you to have a crush on someone, but of all people, I never expected it to be me. Why?"Shinobu and the three elements racked overtime to come up with something, but at the heat of the moment, nothing really worked out. "Oh well, whoever said love was explainable?" he said. After taking a breath, he started again. "First, let me say thank you. When you confessed, in a way, it has made me feel welcome and special, not just to you, but to everyone else back at the Inn." He paused to look up at the sky and let out a sigh before continuing again. "I still remember the first time I came to the inn, how I ran into Narusegawa naked-" At this, Naru blushed behind the bush. "-how I flashed you-" His date's reaction mirrored Naru's. "-and all the accidents and whatnot that happened ever since then. Every time I would do something and end up being sent to somewhere, I would ask myself 'Is this the final straw?' and luckily I would still be allowed to stay as the manager, whether they said it or not."   
  
His date burst in to counter what he said. "But Sempai! You changed! You're not clumsy anymore! You haven't caused an accident for the last week or so at least! You-"  
  
He silenced her by placing a finger on her lips. "Maybe I have, at least to some extent," he said. Hesitation overcame him for a moment before he continued. "Shinobu-chan, I'm sorry, but I cannot reciprocate your initiative, at least not in your manner." The said girl's head dipped in disappointment.  
  
'I knew it...Sempai doesn't like me,' she thought to herself, dejectedly. The three elements simply shook their heads in sadness.  
  
"But why? Why can't you?" she asked, tears threatening to burst out again. The resident manager looked down with a slight smile.  
  
"Because you will be easily scarred with love at your age. It can be most rewarding, and yet, it can be the most painful thing in the world and there is no chance in hell that I'll see any of my beloved tenants and friends scarred like that," he replied. "Don't worry, you will find that certain someone down your road and he'll make you happy," he finished, patting her head.Shinobu looked up at her date, digesting and finally comprehending his words. While the dam didn't burst, a lone tear made it down her face, which Keitaro swiped with the back of his hand.  
  
"Feeling better?" he asked. She simply nodded as she was brought into another hug. While the one a while back was a fierce and desperate one, this one was one of gentleness and calm. When they broke it, the young girl now had a small smile. Her date stuck out his arm and said, "Come on, let's go home," to which she accepted and both took off.  
  
Once they were out of sight and earshot, Naru tentatively stepped out of the bush and looked towards where he walked. A sigh later, she whispered, "Keitaro..." Suddenly remembering the fact that they were now going home, she panicked. "Oh no! I need to get home before they do!!!" and took off on a run.  
  
After about ten minutes of breakneck running and squeezing through various objects and people, Naru arrived inside the Inn, hands on knees and torso bent as she viciously gulped in packets after packets of air. Soon after, an irregular thumping pattern echoed in the living room as Motoko sauntered in to find out who just came back. The former looked up and noticed how the latter's jet black long hair was loose and stuck to her face and neck. Her face showed a shower of sweat and fatigue and her body was broadcasting SOS signals to the nearest bed or chair. "I take it you had a lot to think about and didn't want to do it?" Naru asked between gulps of air.  
  
"You could put it that way," Motoko answered. "Likewise?"  
  
"Likewise," Naru agreed. "Likewise." Upon saying that, she took off her shoes, which seemed to take longer than usual and both ladies walked to the sofa, collapsing on it. As both ladies' heartbeats slowed down to a more relaxed pace, sleep slowly invaded their bodies, loosening their inhibitions one by one. A distinctive "Keitaro" filled the air as they simultaneously dropped their inhibition regarding the opposite gender. Upon registering the sound, both bolted upright and looked at each other, faces blushing. After a moment of eye-lock, they looked down at the floor, still blushing. "You..."  
  
Naru started, then paused. "You won't tell right?"  
  
"As long as you don't" was her reply, turning to face the older girl. As soon as Motoko said that, the front door opened and a twin chorus of "Tadaima!" filled the air. They noticed the resident chef walk in and head towards the kitchen with a slight smile gracing her features. Seconds later, Keitaro walked in, with a similar smile on his visage. He turned to see an extremely tired Naru and Motoko. "Hey girls," he greeted.  
  
Both snapped their heads up. "H-h-hi," they stuttered. Keitaro noticed how deeply they were breathing.  
  
"You two OK? You look like you just got chased by something," he asked, slightly concerned.   
  
"Yeah, we're fine. If you'll excuse me," Motoko said and left for her room. Feeling very uncomfortable in front of him after her little "accident" the swordswoman briskly walked upstairs. Naru got up, following Motoko.  
  
"I need to shower. I'll see you at dinner," Naru said as she also went, or more like ran, up the stairs. Perplexed by their behavior, Keitaro just looked up the stairs before following suit and heading towards his room.  
  
----  
  
TBC  
  
FINALLY!!! There's chapter 7 of this series, which I don't know how long I'll take it just yet. I reallyreally apologize for doing jack over the summer, but I hope this fic will make up for it.  
  
Special thanks go to Chryswolf and James Edwards for prereading parts of this fic, so to say, and giving comments.   
  
The body, mind and soul scene was inspired by the Eva fic "Shinji Grows Up". Take a read at it, and laugh.  
  
And finally, NEVER use word's "Save as HTML" if you're using a system other than English. It WILL screw everything when you upload to fanfiction. 


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